Blood of the Enemy, Forcibly Taken
by Zikare
Summary: After the war ends Harry begins his work as an Auror and is charged with watching Draco. Draco was impregnated by Voldemort as punishment for letting Harry go from Malfoy Manor. Only Voldemort's body was created in a ritual from components from 3 people and the paternity test gives surprising results. Short story, Not epilogue compliant, Slash, Drarry, Mpreg, Rated M for Mild Smut.
1. Chapter 1

Blood of the Enemy, Forcibly Taken

Harry hadn't even had a chance after the war to fully catch up on his sleep before Kingsley showed up at the Burrow and asked Harry, Hermione, and Ron to be Aurors. There was a congratulations on ending the war and a bit of mourning over the dead first, but then Kingsley had just come right out and asked them all to work with Kingsley and the Aurors. They would be tracking down the remaining Death Eaters and restoring peace to the wizarding world and no NEWTs were necessary. Hermione had refused right away; she wanted to spend her summer helping to rebuild Hogwarts and then go back and finish her NEWTs. Ron said he'd absolutely be an Auror, he just needed some time before he could start, because he was needed at home; someone had to keep George company and help out at the joke shop while everyone else worked on Fred's funeral. Harry had said yes and shown up to work the next day.

Typically Aurors are given months of intensive training, before they were put on the streets, so that they would know the correct protocol and not endanger any lives. Harry didn't get that; they handed him a thick instruction manual and told him to peruse it at his own convenience until they got enough recruits to start a training course. Harry's lack of training was probably why Harry didn't get any of the interesting hands on in the field assignments. Harry was probably the most powerful wizard in the Auror corps and he was definitely the only one who had defeated Voldemort, but he was still kept out of the action.

A lot of what Harry did was paperwork and tying up loose ends. He was a valuable resource for information on Voldemort and the Death Eaters, so the monotony of paperwork was always broken up by other more senior Aurors coming over and asking for advice or information. And paperwork didn't just create itself, so about a third of Harry's time was spent in various interrogation rooms questioning informants and captured Death Eaters for information. But once he got the information he had to record it and check the validity of each and every minute facet of each statement, before passing along the useful information to the designated parties, and all of that required paperwork.

Harry was sick of paperwork, so when Head Auror Robards called Harry into his office, Harry was eager for the possibility of a new assignment.

"Yes Auror Robards? You have something new for me?" Harry asked. He still had facts to check on the interview he'd done yesterday, but he didn't think there was a single shred of truth in Rabastan Lestrange's statement and was eager for something else to work on; something important.

"Yes, sit down Harry, I've something important to tell you," Robards said.

"Alright," Harry said, sitting down in the desk opposite Robards.

"We've captured the Malfoys; all three of them."

"That's great sir! Where were they?" Harry hoped Lucius Malfoy didn't get let off the hook this time around.

"They were in Malfoy Manor attempting to brew an abortion potion. They said it was for Draco Malfoy and that Draco Malfoy was in need of medical treatment, but they surrendered quietly once our side agreed to take Draco Malfoy to St. Mungo's."

"Sir, how can an abortion potion be for a wizard?"

"Most pureblood wizards are capable of getting pregnant and giving birth. The healers did confirm that Draco Malfoy is indeed pregnant."

"I saw him during the final battle and he didn't look pregnant."

"He's only about a month along they tell me."

"Oh…"

"Yes, oh indeed, but this story just gets stranger and more unbelievable. The Malfoys said that Draco was impregnated by Voldemort as a punishment for the family after your escape from Malfoy Manor. But Voldemort's original body was destroyed by you sixteen years ago, so He shouldn't have been able to get anyone pregnant. As you have informed us, His body was made during a ritual from the bones of His father, the flesh of Peter Pettigrew, and your blood. It's only natural that the father should be one of those three."

"Sir, do the healers have a way of determining which of us it is?" Harry asked. At this point he didn't know whether Draco had consented or been raped, but there was something darkly humorous about Draco being impregnated by Voldemort's muggle father or even the bumbling lumpy Peter Pettigrew. Harry just hoped the baby didn't turn out to be his and he shuddered at the thought.

"They do. There is a spell that determines paternity and they already conducted it. You're the other father Harry."

Harry's jaw dropped and he was speechless. Robards let the news sink in for several minutes before speaking again. "I'd like you to go to St. Mungo's and interview him; see if you can get him to tell you as much about what happened as he knows. This is highly unusual, but since he's pregnant with your baby and with his questionable guilt, I will allow Draco Malfoy to be released into your custody, if you're willing to take responsibility for him. You'd have to watch him constantly and he couldn't be left alone. Or you could leave him in St. Mungo's until we can figure out what to do with him."

"I thought he wanted the abortion potion?"

"That was when he thought he was carrying Voldemort's child. I don't know what's going on now, but perhaps the two of you can sort that out."

"Alright. I'll go talk to him, but I haven't decided if I'm taking him home with me." There was no way Harry was taking Malfoy to the Burrow, so if it came down to it, he'd take Malfoy to Grimmauld Place.

"Remember to write down everything he tells you and be careful what you do and say around him, because this could turn into quite the story in the papers and we don't want it blowing up in our faces."

"I'll try sir." Harry didn't know if he'd succeed and wished he'd gotten to take the course on public relations before being sent on this assignment.

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Author's Note: Coming next chapter will be Harry's visit with Draco in St. Mungo's. New chapter will be posted about once a week.

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P.s. For those who leave flames, please make them detailed enough that I can figure out what you are talking about. Just writing that it's awful doesn't help; I need to know what exactly is awful and why.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter!

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Harry warily approached the open door to the room that Draco Malfoy was supposed to be in, according to the witch at the reception desk. This was probably the right room, because he recognized the Auror standing guard at the open door; it was Auror Taylor, who hadn't been on the job much longer than Harry and so was often given assignments like guard duty. Harry looked in and saw a pale figure sitting on the bed, with his arms wrapped around his knees and his face buried in his lap. The head of silvery blond hair wasn't slicked back like it normally was, but it was a good indication that this was Malfoy.

Auror Taylor at the door nodded to Harry, indicating that Harry could go in, but Harry wanted a few moments more. Harry's gaze was transfixed by the sight of Malfoy on the bed and he needed to compose his thoughts and figure out what to say. There was just something off about Malfoy; his boyhood rival looked strangely vulnerable sitting on the bed like that. Malfoy's shoulders trembled slightly and Harry heard a soft snuffling noise; was Malfoy crying? This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

Harry felt like he was eavesdropping and seeing something he shouldn't. Harry didn't think Malfoy had even noticed Harry yet, so Harry decided to make his presence known. Harry knocked on the open door, to announce his arrival, and then walked in and took the seat next to the bed.

Draco's face looked up and Harry saw tear tracks down Malfoy's face for a moment, before Malfoy turned away from Harry, surreptitiously wiping his face. It took Draco half a minute to compose himself and then Draco turned back to Harry and said, "They've got mother in a holding cell at the Ministry. She didn't even do anything, you can attest to that yourself Potter. You have to get her out."

"How about I see what I can do for your mum after you answer some questions for me," Harry replied. Even if they didn't charge Narcissa Malfoy with anything, the other Aurors would still have to take her statement.

"My mother saved your life in the Forbidden Forest. How about you return the favor and get her released and _then_ I'll answer your questions."

"Your mother will have to be interviewed, even if she was only a witness."

"They arrested all three of us Potter; they weren't exactly treating her as a witness, unless the Ministry is now in the habit of arresting all their witnesses. Or is this some sort of special treatment, on account of mother being married to my father?"

"Alright, I'll send word that your mother isn't to be charged with anything and that they need to let her go after interviewing her."

"And six months from now they'll inform you that the owl was lost and they accidentally forgot about mother, after sending her to Azkaban with father without bothering to give either a proper trial."

"Alright fine, I'll go in person, but when I get back you better answer my questions truthfully." Harry was quickly growing frustrated with Malfoy. Harry knew that Narcissa Malfoy was innocent, but he just wanted to do his job and get on with the interview; he wanted to find out what happened, but now he was going to have to go right back to the Ministry.

"Yes, fine Potter, deal. Just go already," Draco said.

Harry checked that the guard was still on the door and seeing that the guard was, he apparated back to the Ministry. Harry found Narcissa Malfoy in an interrogation room with a pair of Aurors who were questioning her. Harry beckoned one of them, Auror Walker, out of the room. Once Harry and Auror Walker were out of hearing range of Narcissa, Harry explained to Auror Walker that Narcissa Malfoy was innocent of all wrong doing and had saved Harry's life.

"I want her released when you're done questioning her and I don't want her charged with anything," Harry said.

"And what does Robards want?" Auror Walker asked.

"I haven't talked to him," Harry conceded.

"Well generally we like to get the boss' approval before we let criminals walk," Auror Walker replied.

Harry sighed and conceded defeat; this was yet another hurdle to jump over before he could accomplish his goal and find out what happened to Malfoy. Harry went back to Auror Robards' office and set about convincing his boss to let Narcissa go, reiterating that Narcissa hadn't actually done anything wrong and that Narcissa had saved Harry's life during the final battle. It was a bothersome delay, but Harry did eventually convince the head Auror that Harry was right that Narcissa should be set free. Robards went in person to deliver the news to Walker and Harry apparated back to St. Mungo's. At least Harry had managed to get his apparition license his first day on the job or this day would've taken forever.

Draco was right where Harry left Draco, on the bed in the room guarded by Auror Taylor.

"Alright, your mum's off the hook and they're gonna release her as soon as they finish her interview," Harry said.

"Thank you Potter. Can we go home now?" Malfoy asked.

"No, you can't go back to Malfoy Manor and you agreed to answer my questions now."

"The healers said I could go when you got here; I don't fancy the audience." Malfoy's eyes flickered up to Auror Taylor and then back to Harry. Malfoy's eyes looked pleading and seemed to convey that the matter they were to discuss was personal and that Malfoy wasn't comfortable divulging this information in front of strangers. Harry didn't think Malfoy would be any more comfortable divulging this information to Harry either.

"My boss says he'll release you into my custody and that I can take you home to my house if I'd like. You won't be free to go and you can't go back to Malfoy Manor."

"Fine; anywhere's better than here. Where do you live?"

"The ancient and most noble house of Black. It was my godfather's, but it was a mess last time I was there back in September and I'm sure it's a disaster now." Harry hoped that this bit of detail would dissuade Malfoy from taking him up on the offer, because he didn't want to be responsible of babysitting Malfoy permanently, even if Malfoy was pregnant with his kid.

Draco broke eye contact and looked down before replying, "Like I said; I'd go just about anywhere to get out of here. I don't much care for people looking at me like a freak."

"Alright, let me get you out of here," Harry said, actually starting to feel sorry for Malfoy.

Harry went to talk to Malfoy's healer about Malfoy's release. While Harry was there, the healer confirmed that the parentage spell listed Harry and Draco as the parents of the baby. Harry wanted to see it for himself, just to make sure, and the healer agreed. Harry couldn't believe his eyes, but his name was there right next to Malfoy's name and the baby was indeed Harry's. Harry probably should've asked that healer how male pregnancies are even possible, but he was too shocked to do so. Instead he concentrated on getting Malfoy checked out of the hospital.

It took half an hour, but eventually Harry got Malfoy released, gave Malfoy the secret to Grimmauld Place, and took Malfoy home with him via a side-along apparition.

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Author's note: Next chapter Draco will tell Harry what happened…

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	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you to fan girl 666, JN Malfoy, Lili, and Belldandy55555 for reviewing!

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Grimmauld Place was just as bad as Harry thought it would be. Moody's Dumbledore trap greeted them and perhaps Harry should've warned Malfoy about it, because Malfoy screeched like a girl and started shaking. That set off Sirius' mum's portrait screaming, "Mudbloods, blood traitors, and half breeds soiling the house of my father!"

To make matters worse, Kreacher appeared and flung himself at Harry's feet. Kreacher seemed to be alternating between thankful sobs that his master had returned and accusing Harry of abandoning Kreacher.

While Harry was distracted by Kreacher, Malfoy started running. Harry thought for a moment that Malfoy was trying to escape, but the idiot didn't run out the front door. Instead Malfoy ran to the painting and uncovered it, asking, "Auntie Black? Is that you?"

"Yes, who's there? Draco Malfoy! Thank goodness you've come at last. You have absolutely no idea how awful it's been here the last few years! My good for nothing blood traitor excuse for a _son_ let the filth in!"

Harry extracted himself from Kreacher, ordered the elf to cook supper, and went after Malfoy. "Sorry to break up the family reunion, but we're going upstairs," Harry said, before dragging Malfoy upstairs with him. The last thing Harry needed was Malfoy making friends with Sirius' mum's portrait.

Harry sat Draco down on the sofa in the drawing room and pulled out a quill and parchment. "Alright, I've kept up my end of the deal, now it's time you start talking," Harry said.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you get pregnant?"

"The Dark Lord said it was my punishment for letting you escape from the Manor. He knew that I'd known it was you and I didn't summon Him. He said He was punishing father and mother too, because they let you escape from our home. He said He was tired of dealing with imbeciles and that the only way he was going to get a competent second in command was to make one."

Harry wrote that down and when Malfoy didn't elaborate Harry asked, "And how exactly did that happen? Did you consent?"

Malfoy's jaw dropped down to his chest and Malfoy's eyes were wide open in a mixture of shock and horror. "You think I _let_ this happen to me?" Malfoy asked.

"I don't know; that's why I'm asking. I assume you consider it an honor or something."

"No, I don't consider it an honor Potter, to watch my father crucio'ed in front of me, hearing him scream for ages, and then be crucio'ed myself, before being stunned and woken up sometime later violated and impregnated with what I believed was an abomination! I was trying to get it out of me before they told me it was yours! I never would've thought I'd be relieved to be told I was pregnant with_ your_ baby, but I think that was just about the best news it could've been."

"So you weren't conscious for the actual act?" Harry's opinion of Malfoy was starting to grow now that he thought Malfoy hadn't consented.

"Correct."

"He raped you then?"

"I think he probably considered that beneath him. I highly doubt he touched me."

Harry was a bit confused by Malfoy's statement, because he didn't know how it was possible for Voldemort to have gotten Malfoy pregnant without touching Malfoy. "Alright, why don't you tell me what evidence, if any, you had that he'd done anything to you after he stunned you?"

"My arse stung and there was semen in my knickers. Later I passed more semen into the toilet. It was a lot. I mean a lot, a lot. Like not physically possible for one go, a lot. I think he must've had some spell that deposited a shit-ton of the stuff directly into my body."

"Was there blood?"

"No."

Somehow the idea that Voldemort used a spell and didn't even bother to rape Malfoy made this whole situation sound even more wrong to Harry. Maybe that was a bit callous towards Malfoy on Harry's part. It wasn't like Harry thought Malfoy deserved to be raped by Voldemort, because no one deserved that, but Malfoy had been a prick towards Harry and his friends for so many years that Harry had trouble feeling sympathetic towards Malfoy. "Did you have any bruises or injuries? Even healed injuries?"

"Just some scrapes on my knees from when I fell during the crucio."

"When did you find out you were, you know?"

"A couple weeks later when I was called before the Dark Lord for a pregnancy test. It was positive."

"What did he say?"

"He said He was pleased that the next Malfoy heir was also to be His heir. Bella was upset He hadn't chosen her, but that was her punishment for her role in your escape. Plus He said He needed her and couldn't afford for her to be out of commission. He said I was to go back to school for the remainder of the term and avoid any physical confrontations. He said," Malfoy paused, gulped, and then continued, "that I was expected to stay home at the Manor and raise His kid. He said that if I did a good job, He'd let me have the next one too."

"But you didn't want that, did you?"

"No, I most certainly didn't. I was trying to brew the abortion potion at Hogwarts in secret, but then you barged in. When we got home, we started brewing it at the Manor too, but then the Aurors barged in."

"Did they give you any at St. Mungo's?"

"No. They insisted on checking whose it was first and then when I found out it wasn't His…" Malfoy trailed off and didn't complete that sentence.

"When you found out it was mine, didn't you still want to get rid of it?" Harry asked hopefully. If Malfoy had an abortion, Harry could pretend like this whole sordid affair hadn't happened. Harry could send Malfoy off to a holding cell and let the Wizengamot figure out what to do with Malfoy and Harry wouldn't have to babysit the git.

Malfoy shrugged. "Do you want me too?"

"It'd certainly make things easier."

"Excuse me Potter, I didn't mean to make your life complicated," Draco said with a sneer.

"Malfoy, you hate me. You can't really want to have my child."

"I don't know what I want. I need to think about it."

"Alright. Well if you're going to be staying a while, I suppose we better see about getting one of the bedrooms set up for you," Harry conceded. He still hoped Malfoy would get the abortion, but it did seem reasonable to give Malfoy some time to think and process this news before going through with it.

Draco nodded, so Harry went and had a look through all of the bedrooms. There were the two bedrooms on the third floor, including Sirius' old room in which Harry had spent a good deal of his nights back when he had stayed here during the horcrux hunt. But Harry didn't want to clear out Regulus' old room and he didn't want to sleep on the third floor, if Draco was down on the second floor. There were three bedrooms on the second floor and they were all a mess. There were candy wrappers, potion debris, and sundry joke related objects in Fred and George's old room, books all over the place in Hermione's old room, and a half eaten moldy cheese sandwich in Ron's old room.

Harry decided he wanted Fred and George's old room for himself. Harry considered putting Draco in Ron's room, but it smelled of old gym shorts so badly that Harry didn't think the smell would ever come out. Hermione's room was really the least unpleasant room, even if it was full of books and Ginny had put up a poster of kittens and pink hearts on the wall.

"Alright, this one's yours," Harry informed Malfoy.

"Just because I'm queer doesn't mean I want the room with kitties and hearts Potter. Why can't I have the room with all of the candy wrappers on the floor?" Malfoy asked.

"Because that one's mine," Harry answered.

"Fine, I guess this is better than the smelly room. I shudder to think what you've been doing in there," Malfoy replied.

"That room was Ron's. I've no idea what he did to make it smell that bad."

Harry set about fixing up the room a bit, clearing out most of the books to make room for Malfoy. Malfoy picked up books and stacked them on top of the dresser. Then Malfoy opened the top drawer and pulled out a petite lacy bra, holding it up for Harry to see. "These aren't really my style Potter; I'll require you to pick up some of my things from the Manor."

"Those are Hermione's."

"Ach!" Malfoy cried, flinging the bra back into the drawer.

Harry rolled his eyes and went back to work on the books.

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Author's Note: So what do you think Harry and Draco's initial reactions should be? Have the abortion? Not have the abortion? Decide to have the abortion and then back out when he gets to the clinic?

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	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews are greatly appreciated :)

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Later, once Malfoy was set up in Hermione's old room, Harry wrote a letter to Ron and Ginny explaining what was going on. Not the part about Malfoy being pregnant with Harry's kid, but the part about Robards assigning Harry to babysit Malfoy for the time being and that Harry wouldn't be back to the Burrow. He thought of Hedwig when he finished, wishing he still had his owl, but not wanting to get a new one to replace her. He ended up calling Kreacher and ordering Kreacher to deliver the letter. When Kreacher returned, he sent Kreacher off again to Malfoy Manor to get some clothes for Malfoy.

That night Harry lay awake trying to think how he was going to explain this to Ginny. Harry's romance with Ginny had been hot and heavy for like one day after the war and then had fizzled out with an argument the very next day. Well technically Harry had slept for almost a solid day first, so it was the second day after the war that HHHarry had let Ginny suck him off a few brilliant times and he'd fingered Ginny a few times in return. But the third night after the war Ginny had wanted to shag, Harry had wanted to wait, and the argument had blown way out of proportion. Ginny hadn't been pleased when Harry had gone to work either, but they were still together and he was hoping they could repair the relationship.

Voldemort knocking Malfoy up with Harry's baby couldn't possibly be Harry's fault, but Harry just knew Ginny would be upset about this. Harry hoped for their relationship's sake that he never had to tell Ginny, which would be the case if Malfoy would decide to go through with the abortion soon. Given that Malfoy had already tried to get the abortion potion three times and Malfoy wasn't even impregnated a full two months ago, Harry thought the odds were pretty good that Malfoy would abort within the week. Besides, Malfoy hated Harry and couldn't possibly want to have Harry's baby.

Harry tossed and turned, but couldn't sleep. He kept wondering how many more people had Voldemort knocked up in the three years Harry's blood had run in Voldemort's veins. There could be a whole army of two year old red eyed Potter babies out there born to Death Eaters. And it didn't even have to be female Death Eaters, because somehow the males, like Malfoy, could get pregnant. Harry was going to have to figure out how that was even possible and soon. At the very least, Harry needed to make certain there weren't other pregnant Death Eaters out there. If there were, it would be abortion potions for the lot of them if Harry had his way.

Harry had never thought much about abortion before and whether he was for or against it. He found himself contemplating the subject now. If ever there was a situation when abortion would be the right thing to do, it was this one. Any pregnancy conceived against both parties' wills by Voldemort with a spell, was not one that Harry felt should go forward. Maybe if Malfoy was further along the baby would seem more real to Harry and Harry might think it had a right to live, but not yet. It was still incredibly early in the pregnancy. Harry didn't know much about embryology, but he didn't think it was possible that the thing inside of Malfoy could much resemble a baby at all.

Right now Malfoy's baby was just an unwanted parasite making Harry's life difficult. A burden complicating Harry's relationship with Ginny and making him babysit his boyhood rival. Merlin, Harry hated Malfoy and Malfoy was the last person in this world he wanted to share a child with. If it would have been Ginny who was pregnant, Harry would have been happy. If it was any of his friends and he really didn't have a choice in the matter, he thought he could make it work. If it was even someone he barely knew or didn't know at all…well even that would be better than it being Malfoy.

Maybe Malfoy wasn't exactly the worse possible choice; Harry had to admit Bellatrix being pregnant with Harry's baby was a far more frightening possibility. Malfoy was probably better than any of the other Death Eaters, as far as Death Eaters went. If it had to be a Death Eater, then maybe Harry should be happy that it was Malfoy. But Harry wasn't happy that it was Malfoy and couldn't even find it in himself to be grateful it wasn't someone worse.

Harry was still awake with his thoughts at three am when he heard a scream from Malfoy's room. Harry rushed across the hall and flung open Malfoy's door to see Malfoy springing up in bed panting and dripping in sweat.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Nightmare," Malfoy answered.

"Oh." Harry looked at Malfoy and tried to decide what to do.

If this had been Ron, Harry would sit next to Ron and pat Ron on the back. Maybe Harry would say something nice and then go back to sleep, but this was Malfoy and Harry didn't know how to handle that. Harry wanted to turn his back, close the door, and walk away, but Malfoy's face was pale, Malfoy was still breathing rapidly, and Malfoy's eyes were wide with fear. It was like Malfoy was still scared even though Malfoy was now awake. After a few minutes of silence filled by the labored sounds of Malfoy's breathing, Harry asked, "Are you gonna be alright?"

Malfoy nodded and reached for a wand that wasn't there from the nightstand and Harry saw Malfoy's hand tremble. Harry still had Malfoy's wand, not having given it back yet.

"Can I get you something?" Harry asked.

"Water," Malfoy said.

Harry summoned a glass and then filled it with water, before handing it to Malfoy. Malfoy took it and drank half of it in a few large gulps, before setting it on the nightstand. "Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked, hoping that the answer was no.

"Vince and Fiendfyre," Malfoy replied. "I couldn't save him."

"Look, it's not your fault Crabbe set off that spell. He almost killed all of us."

"Yeah, I know, but it was my idea to go after you. I just wanted my wand back. I told Vince and Greg we were going to capture you and take you to the Dark Lord, but all I really wanted was to get my wand and then I would've let you escape." Malfoy yawned on the word escape and his eyes closed with fatigue.

"You should go back to sleep," Harry said.

Malfoy nodded and lay back down; he was back to sleep a few minutes later.

Harry went back to his room and lay down in his bed. He began to wonder just how long this situation would last. He didn't want to be playing nursemaid to Draco bloody Malfoy of all people. Sure Harry felt bad for Malfoy, but mostly he just wanted Malfoy to take the abortion potion and let the Ministry deal with the git. Malfoy could have his nightmares in a holding cell and be someone else's problem. Harry finally went to sleep thinking that Malfoy having Harry's baby was Harry's living nightmare.

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Author's Note: You all pretty much agreed with regards to Malfoy and abortion: Harry's baby is Malfoy's get out of Azkaban free card and his key to regaining influence after the war. There was more disagreement on Harry, but right now I think Harry's too stuck in his own problems with Ginny to be anything but hostile towards Malfoy and the baby. Later, I think his feelings towards the baby will change.

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	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! I greatly appreciate them all so much!

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The next day Harry took Malfoy into work with him and put together his report on how Voldemort had gotten Malfoy pregnant. While Harry worked, Malfoy read a book that had come from Hermione's room. Then they took a break for tea, before Harry took Malfoy into one of the interview rooms and started questioning Malfoy about all of the other Death Eater things Malfoy had seen. Who was a Death Eater and who was just imperiused? Who had killed and who had tortured? Who had used which of the unforgivables and when? Who was at which battle?

Harry and Malfoy had a break for lunch and another break in the afternoon, but they were in that interview room going over the facts of the war from Malfoy's point of view for the rest of the day. The rest of that week followed the same pattern, with Harry writing up reports of what Malfoy told him and Malfoy telling him more details for yet another report. Malfoy was a good sport and seemed to be answering all of Harry's questions honestly. The only questions Malfoy wouldn't answer were about Lucius. Anytime Lucius did something descent, like when Lucius had begged Voldemort to impregnate Lucius instead of Draco, Malfoy would mention it, but which crimes Lucius was there to witness or involved in, Malfoy wouldn't say.

After a week and a half, Harry realized that he'd gotten all he could out of Malfoy. Harry was going to continue bringing Malfoy into work with him to watch Malfoy, but then on Thursday of the second week Robards informed him of a spell he could use with Malfoy. It would bind Malfoy to the house, so that Malfoy couldn't leave while Harry was away. After that Harry could go to work and leave Malfoy at home alone and not have to worry. Only the binder could undo it, so even if he left Malfoy with a wand, it would be fine.

Harry performed the spell Thursday night and left Draco alone while he went to work Friday. He worried all day long Friday while he was trying to work. He repeatedly had thoughts of his foolishness to leave Malfoy alone with a wand. He'd given Malfoy the hawthorn wand back last week and he just felt wrong leaving a pregnant wizard home alone without a wand. What if something happened and Malfoy died for want of a wand? That was the thinking that had caused Harry to leave that morning without taking the hawthorn wand away, but once he had gotten to work he couldn't help but think of all the horrible things Malfoy could do with a wand.

Harry had been certain something would go wrong while he was away, but that wasn't the case. He came home Friday evening to find Malfoy reading in the drawing room and the house intact. There was nothing out of place and nothing to indicate any escape attempts on Malfoy's part. Not even Kreacher had anything negative to say about Malfoy when Harry, in his paranoia, asked the elf for a minute by minute breakdown of Malfoy's day. According to Kreacher, Malfoy had spent the day reading and repairing the house with the wand. All that Malfoy had actually done was cast dozens of repairos, mend a rift in the floor, and spruce up the garden.

Harry was growing used to Malfoy's company. He learned a lot about Malfoy during their daily interviews and even more about Malfoy at night. It seemed Malfoy was plagued by nightmares almost every night. On the few nights Harry didn't wake up to Malfoy's screams, he woke up in the morning to find Malfoy sleeping on the floor in the corner of Harry's room. Malfoy would be curled up with his knees to his chest and his head on his knees, blond hair spilled out down his legs and sound asleep; Harry couldn't imagine how Malfoy could sleep like that, but Malfoy had done it several times now.

The subject of the baby hadn't come up again. Harry kept waiting for Malfoy to mention it and Malfoy kept not mentioning it. Harry knew they needed to talk about it, but didn't know how to bring it up. He also didn't know what to tell his friends. Hermione had been away most of the time, but she was due back from Hogwarts for the weekend. She had owled, requesting if she could come over to Grimmauld Place or if Harry would come over to the Burrow. Ron too had been owling asking Harry to come over, but it was Ginny's owls that confused Harry the most.

Ginny would owl Harry asking him to come over during the day, when she knew perfectly well he had work. Then after he sent an owl reminding her of his work schedule, she would send an owl back complaining about it and saying that he never spent any time with her anymore. Well that was true enough, because he'd been avoiding Ginny, because he didn't know what to say to her. He didn't want to tell her what was going on with Malfoy, because he still hoped Malfoy would announce any day now that Malfoy wanted the abortion.

Harry would often still be lying awake thinking about Ginny when Malfoy would wake up screaming. It happened again on Friday night and Harry looked up at the ceiling and debated whether or not he should go into Malfoy's room or not. It was always awkward when he did, but when he didn't, Malfoy always ended up sleeping in the corner of his room. He didn't want that, so he got up and went into Malfoy's room.

Malfoy looked worse than usual.

"What was it this time?" Harry asked.

"The baby turned out to be the Dark Lord's after all," Malfoy said. "It lit fiendfyre inside of me. Then it burst out of my stomach and Vince's face was in the fire. And then the baby slithered out and started hissing at me."

Harry sighed disappointed that Malfoy had wanted to talk; he always hoped Malfoy would just shrug the dream off and go back to sleep, but somehow Malfoy always wanted to talk about these things. Plus, that sounded like the bad dream to end all bad dreams. Harry could imagine how terrified he'd be if he had Voldemort's spawn inside of him. It'd probably burst out of his stomach with red slitted eyes and no nose; Harry shuddered at the thought.

"There's always a chance it is Voldemort's baby, even though biologically it's mine; the semen came from his corrupted body after all. It's probably safest to take the abortion potion and then you won't have to worry about it anymore," Harry said, taking the opportunity afforded by the mention of the baby to bring up the abortion option. This was the first time all week Malfoy had mentioned the baby and he was sure Malfoy should be ready to get rid of the thing by now.

"No," Malfoy said.

"What?" Harry was certain he'd heard Draco wrong. Draco couldn't possibly want to keep the baby.

"You really suck at talking Potter. Why'd you even offer?"

"I don't know, Malfoy. Are you saying you want to keep the baby?"

"Yes, I think I do."

"Why? You hate me."

"I don't hate you Potter. I hate the Dark Lord. I hate Fenrir Greyback. I hate muggles. I only find you irritating and annoying."

"Still, we're not even friends. You can't want to have my baby."

"I'm already having it. Can you imagine the headlines if I were to get the abortion now? Death Eater Scum Murders Potter Baby or Death Eater Kills Savior's Child; they'll be asking for my head by the end of the day."

"I'll brew the potion for you if you like, so that no one finds out; you could help me, if you don't trust my brewing."

"All those Aurors and healers already know."

"Yeah, but we'll say you had a miscarriage and I'll ask the Aurors not to say anything. I don't know about the healers, but in the muggle world healers can't tell your private information. It's possible that it won't even get out that you were ever pregnant."

Draco shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Do you seriously want to keep my baby? Forget about what other people will think; I'm asking about you, Draco Malfoy, what do you want? You could marry someone you care about and have a baby conceived out of love. Don't you want that?"

"I can't."

"Sure you can. I'm sure there are tons of purebloods out there who'd have you."

"No, I'm a Death Eater, no one will want me. I'll be locked up in Azkaban for life."

"No you won't."

"They arrested my mother Potter. My mother's never committed a crime in her life; they arrested her for her association with me and father. Imagine what they'll do to me, someone who actually tried to capture you."

"I'll testify for you; you let me go on Easter."

"Don't remind me; that's how I got into this mess in the first place," Draco said, looking down at his flat stomach.

"So what do you think is going to happen then? You'll have this baby and then be sent to Azkaban? This baby will be what, your heir raised by your mum?"

"You'd send me to Azkaban when I'm pregnant with your baby? You'd let your own child be born and raised in prison?"

"You're the one who's so sure you're going to prison. And no, I wouldn't let the baby go with you. As soon as it's born I'd send it to your mum."

"And it'd die of starvation without me."

"Huh?"

"Babies have to be nursed Potter, surely even you must know that."

"How can you nurse; you're a wizard."

"Same way I can get pregnant."

"And how exactly is that? No one ever explained it to me."

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't."

Malfoy and Harry stared at each other for a few minutes, before Malfoy said, "Well I'm not going to explain the facts of life to you Potter. You can read a book for all I care."

"Alright, fine, whatever. So you nurse the baby and then you go to Azkaban?"

"No. If I have the Savior of the Wizarding World's baby, people will assume we're a couple, which means they won't be pressing for the kiss. The way I see it, this situation turned from the worst possible scenario to the best possible scenario inside of a day."

"So you want to keep this baby to save your skin and keep you out of Azkaban? That's a pretty pathetic reason to bring a kid into this world if you ask me."

"It's not just that." Malfoy's voice sounded small.

"Then what else is there?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"It's not in your body, but mine. It's not just some random kid, but _my_ kid. I didn't really want to get rid of it before, but I thought it was evil and that I had to get rid of it. I was so unbelievably _happy _when I found out it wasn't the Dark Lord's. It didn't even matter that it's yours, just that it isn't _His_. Before the pregnancy test I kept hoping that it didn't take and I wasn't pregnant, but after I knew I was, it just felt… I don't think I could live with myself if I killed it."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. What was there to say to that? He couldn't make Malfoy get rid of the baby. Maybe he could physically force Malfoy to swallow an abortion potion, but he only considered that for half a second before brushing the idea aside. He wasn't a monster and he couldn't do that to Malfoy. His chest hurt when he thought about doing that, like the space around his heart was constricting.

So they were keeping the baby and that just left what to tell Ginny.

"Alright, fine, keep it. I'm going back to bed," Harry said.

Harry went back to his bed and lay awake thinking about Ginny and what she would say when she found out. Ginny deserved better than this. He felt like he was cheating on Ginny to be having this baby with Malfoy. He didn't want to just abandon Malfoy and the baby, but having Malfoy and the baby around wasn't fair to Ginny. Ginny deserved to have all of a man's attention. She shouldn't have to put up with a kid that wasn't hers and she definitely didn't deserve to have to put up with Malfoy. Harry still wanted Ginny, but he would understand if Ginny didn't want him after this. He would have to tell her tomorrow.

* * *

Author's Note: There are two ways I could go from here. Originally I thought that Harry would be open to the idea of a family and get used to the baby idea within the next month or so. But then I had an idea for adding in more drama and giving Draco a chance to be more manipulative. Draco could lie and say he will have the abortion after all, but then back out and make Harry feel like shit for trying to push him into it. It would still work out to Harry accepting the baby in a month or so and lets Draco show his true colors. Without it, Draco seems to be coming off too innocent and Hufflepuff. What do you think? Drama and scheming, or quiet acceptance and innocence?


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews! Majority rules, so quiet acceptance and innocence won.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but Malfoy must've had another bad dream while Harry was out, because Malfoy was once again sleeping in the corner of Harry's room. Malfoy's head was tilted to the side and Harry could see Malfoy's cheeks puffing out with each exhale. Malfoy's hair fell messily over Malfoy's face and there was something about Malfoy asleep that was so much more endearing than Malfoy awake. If only Malfoy would stay looking peaceful and innocent then Harry wouldn't really mind having Malfoy around all of the time.

"Get up. We're going to the Burrow today," Harry announced. It was time to talk to Ginny and he imagined that that might take all day. He might as well take Malfoy with him and get it all over with and out in the open. Besides, this would be Malfoy's first real test, because Harry wanted to see what Malfoy would say about going to the Weasleys.

"Where?" Malfoy asked sleepily.

"The Burrow, you know, Ron's house?"

"Huh? I thought I wasn't allowed out of this house."

"Well I'm spending the day at the Burrow and I'm going to tell them about you, so you might as well come with."

"Alright, let me get ready," Malfoy said yawning. "I couldn't get back to sleep last night."

A half an hour later they were dressed and flooing over to the Burrow; Harry having temporally lifted the spell binding Malfoy to Grimmauld Place.

They had an awkward breakfast with the Weasleys in which everyone tiptoed around the issue of what Draco Malfoy was doing at their table. Malfoy, for his part, ignored the stares and didn't make any comments other than to tell Molly that the food was excellent. Harry wasn't sure what Malfoy was playing at acting so civil, but he couldn't believe Malfoy wasn't up to something. Malfoy wasn't even sneering and that wasn't like Malfoy at all.

Ginny glared daggers at Malfoy all through breakfast and it made Harry think that the conversation that was to come with his girlfriend was not going to go well. As soon as Harry had eaten, he asked Ginny to go outside for a chat with him, leaving Malfoy with Ron, Molly, Hermione, and Arthur.

"What's going on Harry? I haven't seen you in two weeks!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I've been dealing with Malfoy. I told you I've been put in charge of babysitting him."

"What does babysitting Malfoy have to do with the fact you didn't even write me a letter?"

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't think of a way to explain what's going on and it didn't seem like the type of thing I should tell you in a letter."

"And what is going on? Why isn't Malfoy in Azkaban?"

"He's pregnant; they didn't want to send someone who's pregnant there, I guess."

"He's what!? How can he be pregnant?"

"Voldemort did it. Something about some pureblood wizards being able to get pregnant; I don't really know how it works, but that's what Robards told me and the healers confirmed it." Harry had asked some of the other Aurors at work about male pregnancy and been told a story about pureblood wizards buggering themselves on unicorn horns that was so outrageously unbelievable that he was pretty sure the senior Aurors were just messing with him. Taking the mickey out of Harry Potter was a popular pastime at Auror headquarters.

"Yeah, I know about it being possible, but I don't understand how Malfoy wound up pregnant. Is it Voldemort's then?"

"Malfoy said Voldemort impregnated him, but Voldemort didn't have his own body and the healers confirmed that the baby isn't Voldemort's."

"Then whose is it? Pettigrew's?"

"Mine."

"What!? This is a joke, right?"

"Unfortunately not; I wish it was."

"Are you queer, Harry?" Ginny asked, eyes boring into Harry, like she could see through him.

"What? No, why would you ask that?"

"Because this would make a lot more sense if you were. If you've been cheating on me with Malfoy, it would explain everything. How you got him pregnant and why you didn't want to shag. Because you're already shagging Malfoy."

"No, I'm not! I've never done it with anyone. I just thought we should wait until we're married is all. I didn't want to rush it."

"This is all too convenient. Voldemort just happens to knock Malfoy up with your kid? Do you realize how unbelievable that sounds?"

"Yes, but it happened. How else do you explain it?"

"Easy; you were lonely. You were gone an awfully long time Harry, I can see how you were a bit desperate when you found yourself at Malfoy Manor. Malfoy offered himself to you and then let you escape. I can't believe you didn't wait for me! I waited for you!"

"I did wait for you! I swear I haven't had sex with Malfoy; I've just been interviewing him for work and keeping an eye on him, so the baby doesn't have to be born in Azkaban. That's all, I promise you."

"Then why did it take you so long to tell me? It's been two weeks Harry. Even if this wasn't your fault, you still kept it from me."

"Because I was hoping he wouldn't want to keep it."

"Is he going to get rid of it then?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"No, he told me last night he's keeping it."

"Ugh! Why does he always have to make the worst possible decisions?"

"Look, this isn't what I wanted and I know you don't deserve this. If you want to leave me, I'll understand," Harry said, hoping Ginny would want to stick things out. He had spent the last year or so fantasizing about spending his life with her and now the war was over and his happily ever after just was not piecing itself together the way he'd planned.

"You're right, I don't deserve this. Consider us over," Ginny said and stormed off into the house.

Harry followed Ginny into the house. Ginny froze in the doorway, watching Malfoy talking to Molly. Molly had her hand on Malfoy's stomach and Malfoy was smirking and listening to Molly chatter on about pregnancy symptoms and how to deal with morning sickness. Molly had clearly discovered that Malfoy was pregnant and her mothering instincts had latched on.

"Ginger really does help with the queasiness dear; I always kept a plate of gingersnaps by the bed when I was pregnant," Molly was saying.

"Erh!" Ginny huffed and stormed up the stairs.

"What's wrong with Ginny?" Molly asked.

"We broke up," Harry answered still in a bit of shock. He couldn't believe Ginny had broken things off. Sure he had contemplated it before, but that was totally different from it actually happening. And even in Harry's worse nightmares she hadn't accused him of sleeping with Malfoy; Harry felt hurt that she would even think that.

"Oh dear," Molly replied.

* * *

Author's Note: I was trying not to make Ginny come off as such a bitch, because I dislike character bashing in general, but this was really hard to write. Did I succeed?

Up next will be Harry's talk with his friends about Malfoy.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews!

* * *

"What's wrong with Ginny?" Molly asked.

"We broke up," Harry answered.

"Oh dear," Molly replied.

Malfoy didn't say anything to that, but the smile he'd had on his face seemed to beam even brighter. "Molly, do you think you could teach me how to knit? I'd like to make the baby a blanket," Malfoy said, taking the focus off of Ginny Weasley and putting it back on him, where it belonged.

"Yes of course, Draco dear, I'd be glad to teach you," Molly replied.

Malfoy smirked and Harry made eye contact with Ron and then Hermione. Harry inclined his head towards the door and then went outside. Ron and Hermione followed him.

"What's going on? What'd you break up with Ginny for?" Ron asked petulantly.

"She broke up with me," Harry retorted.

"What?" Ron asked. "She loves you."

"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I told her about Malfoy and that I'd understand if she dumped me and she did," Harry answered.

"Why would she dump you over Malfoy? You're just watching him for Robards, right?" Ron asked.

"What's going on Harry?" Hermione asked.

"How much did Malfoy tell you?" Harry asked. By the way Malfoy and Molly were speaking, Harry had assumed Malfoy had already told everyone else about the baby while he was talking to Ginny.

"Just that they didn't send him to prison on account of his pregnancy. You were available and volunteered to watch him," Ron said.

Harry waited a moment to see if there was more. When there wasn't, he asked, "Is that it?"

"Yes, what else would there be Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Did he tell you who the other father is?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron answered.

"I'd assumed it was another Death Eater or another Slytherin student. Is it someone else?" Hermione asked.

"It's me," Harry admitted.

"Harry! How could you? What about Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Yes, how could you Harry? You were with us every time you were with Malfoy," Hermione said.

"I didn't. Voldemort did. Voldemort's body was made with my blood, so when Voldemort tried to knock Malfoy up, it backfired and turned out to be my baby. I saw the paternity spell myself," Harry said.

"Malfoy probably took something to mess with the results of the spell," Ron said.

"I don't think he did. The Malfoys were trying to abort the baby, because they thought it was Voldemort's. As far as I can tell, Malfoy was completely taken by surprise to learn that it wasn't Voldemort's," Harry replied.

"Malfoy's going to abort it then? He didn't sound like he was in there." Ron jerked his head in the direction of the house.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, but didn't finish the thought.

"No, he was when he thought it was Voldemort's, but now that it's mine he's decided to keep it," Harry answered.

"Why? Why would he want your kid? No offense, mate," Ron said.

"None taken. I asked him the same thing. At first it sounded like the answer was that having my kid would keep him out of Azkaban, but then when I said that that was an awful reason to have a kid, he had a sappy reason. It sounded like he loves the kid," Harry revealed.

"Harry, you can't let Malfoy raise your kid. It'll turn into a pureblood snob!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ronald, Harry can't take a baby away from its mother!" Hermione exclaimed.

"He could marry Ginny and raise the baby as their own and then it wouldn't have a Death Eater for a mum," Ron retorted.

"Um, hold on you two; Ginny just dumped me, so that idea is out," Harry said.

"Well what _are_ you going to do Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I haven't gotten that far yet. Malfoy just barely told me he's keeping it," Harry said.

"You'll do what's best for the baby, I know Harry," Hermione said.

"And what's best is getting it away from Malfoy," Ron replied.

"A baby needs both its parents," Hermione retorted.

"Look, can we just drop it for now?" Harry asked.

Ron and Hermione agreed and they switched to talking about the logistics of Malfoy living with Harry. Then they spent some time catching up with each other, each of them telling the others what they had been doing for the past two weeks. Ron had mostly been helping George prepare to reopen the joke shop and Hermione had been helping repair Hogwarts.

By the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back inside, Malfoy seemed to have Molly eating up the whole baby thing. Molly was talking about knitting baby sweaters and she even had a half-finished tiny sweater she was working on. Harry was relieved when he figured out that this sweater was for Teddy, not Malfoy's baby. The idea that Molly would be knitting the baby a sweater just made it seem all the more real.

"I'll just go upstairs and talk to Ginny," Ron said, before running up the stairs to his sister's room.

Not long after that Molly suggested inviting Andromeda and Teddy over. Harry wanted to see them, but he felt bad about not being more involved in Teddy's life. He probably shouldn't have jumped right into work with the Aurors and instead taken some time off to get to know Teddy. Only Teddy was a teeny tiny baby and he had no clue what to do with one. He felt hopeless and out of place whenever Teddy was around.

"I've always wanted to meet my Aunt Andromeda," Malfoy said. "Just as long as she's not like my other aunt." Malfoy actually shuddered at the mention of Bellatrix and since a few of those nightmares Malfoy had woken Harry up with had been about Bellatrix, Harry could understand why.

Ron and Ginny came back downstairs and rejoined the group. Ginny ignored Harry and acted like he wasn't even in the room, but at least Ron was still speaking to him.

Somehow the whole Malfoy getting to know the family thing became even more surreal an hour later when Dromeda Tonks and Teddy Lupin came out of the fireplace. Malfoy jumped when he saw Dromeda for the first time, obviously mistaking her for Bellatrix and cowering behind Harry for protection.

"It's alright; she only looks like Bellatrix at first. Once you get to know her you'll see that she's nothing like her sister," Harry said.

Malfoy nodded and sat back down. To Harry's amazement, Dromeda and Malfoy seemed to hit it off and by the end of the surreal meeting, Dromeda was letting Malfoy hold Teddy and Malfoy was fawning over the little blue-haired baby. A long stretch of their conversation revolved around Narcissa Malfoy, who Malfoy hadn't seen since he was taken to St. Mungo's and Narcissa was taken to the Ministry. Narcissa had been released later that day, but wasn't allowed back into Malfoy Manor, because Aurors were still processing it for dark artifacts and evidence regarding Death Eater hangouts. As it turned out, Narcissa had shown up on Dromeda's doorstep a week ago and the two had reconnected over tea, which was how Dromeda knew Narcissa was staying with their mother, Mrs. Black.

Teddy was a very tiny baby and Harry was always too afraid he'd break Teddy to hold the baby, but Draco held the baby and didn't even seem worried about hurting Teddy. Malfoy was cuddling the baby and cooing nonsense at Teddy that seemed very wrong coming out of Malfoy's mouth. "He's absolutely adorable Auntie Dromeda," Malfoy said, cradling Teddy to his chest.

"Thank you Draco. Maybe I can come over to Harry's place with Teddy during the week and we could have tea," Dromeda suggested.

"I'd like that," Malfoy replied.

"It's always good to get as much practice with an actual baby in before your baby arrives. It'll prepare you for all of those late nights," Molly said.

Harry couldn't take any more of this, so he went into the kitchen and Ron and Hermione followed. They sat at the table eating Molly's biscuits and determinedly avoiding the topic of the elephant in the next room. Harry passed the next few hours in that manner, occasionally peeking out on the sitting room, to make sure Malfoy hadn't escaped or caused any trouble. But all Malfoy seemed to be doing was fawning over Teddy with the women.

Harry started to think that his plan to bring Malfoy with him to the Burrow had backfired. Not only had Malfoy not insulted the Weasleys once, but Malfoy had Molly and Dromeda doting all over him and telling him what a good father he was going to be.

That evening Harry was glad to get back to the relative normalcy of Grimmauld Place. There was just something so wrong about Malfoy making nice with the Weasleys and Tonks' mum. Ron's last words to Harry kept playing through his head that night. "What is Malfoy playing at?" Ron had asked.

Harry didn't know what Malfoy was playing at, but whatever it was, Malfoy was good at playing at it. Harry supposed he'd just have to wait and see to find out.

* * *

Author's Note: Does anyone have any ideas for what should happen next? Maybe something sneaky Draco could do to manipulate Harry into doing what he wants?


	8. Chapter 8

Sunday Malfoy surprised Harry with a request. "Can my mother come over?" Malfoy asked.

Harry wanted to say no, because he didn't want to deal with Narcissa Malfoy, but Malfoy just looked so hopeful and Malfoy had been on his best behavior yesterday at the Weasleys. Maybe Malfoy's reason for making nice with the Weasleys was simply that Malfoy wanted Harry to return the favor and let Malfoy's mum over. Harry grudgingly agreed, thinking that this couldn't possibly turn out well.

Harry allowed Malfoy to firecall Malfoy's grandmother and pass a scrap of parchment with the secret of Harry's address on it through for Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa came right over and returned the scrap of parchment back to Harry and then proceeded to thank Harry for saving her son's life during the war and taking care of Malfoy now. That seemed normal enough, but Narcissa had a large canvas bag slung over her shoulder and Harry eyed it suspiciously.

"Did you bring Malfoy something?" Harry asked her.

"Yes; potions ingredients. I know I should have sent these for you ages ago Draco, but you'd be surprised how many apothecaries refused to sell to me. Yesterday I finally tried Udolph Bulstrode and he sold to me. I had assumed with his son Evrard's arrest that his shop would be shut down, but it wasn't," Narcissa replied.

"Malfoy can't have potions ingredients; he's under house arrest and should consider himself lucky I let him have his wand."

"But he needs these and they're all harmless; it's just for an anti-nausea potion and a nutrient potion for his pregnancy."

"Why didn't you just buy him those potions then? With ingredients he could make anything," Harry said.

Malfoy snorted in amusement. "Forgive Potter, Mother, he's not very good with potions," Malfoy said to his mother. "Potter, if you don't believe us that these ingredients are harmless, why don't you get someone at work or one of your friends to check them out for you?"

"Why bother? I can just make your mum take these things back with her."

"You are the one who complains about me hogging the lavatory when I'm vomiting. This potion will make that stop, or do you secretly like seeing me suffer?" Malfoy asked.

"Draco, don't be childish. We are all adults here and surely Auror Potter can agree that you need these potions," Narcissa said.

To Harry's knowledge, Malfoy had in fact puked on numerous occasions since moving in with him. Thankfully Malfoy didn't advertise the situation, but there had been several times when Malfoy had obviously taken off running to the loo with his hands covering his mouth. And Malfoy spent so much time in the loo that Harry had repeatedly gone to the door to check on him, only to turn away quickly at the sound of retching from the other side of the door. But the worst had been one time when Harry was showering and Malfoy had unlocked the door with a spell, letting himself into the bathroom to vomit in the toilet. Harry had screeched indignantly, grabbed a towel, and demanded an explanation of why Malfoy hadn't just gone to the downstairs toilet. Malfoy had been too busy violently disgorging his stomach contents to answer for quite some time, but later that day he had explained that he knew he couldn't make it downstairs, so he had barged in on Harry. Harry was still upset, but Malfoy insisted that he had been too busy hurling to see anything and there was a patch of vomit in the hallway leading to the bathroom that Kreacher had to clean up, so Harry thought that Malfoy was probably telling the truth.

Harry did not in fact enjoy Malfoy's puking, especially that time when Malfoy barged in on him in the shower, so he did agree that Malfoy probably would be less unpleasant to have around if he wasn't vomiting so often. "Fine, but why can't you bring him the potion already made?" Harry asked.

"I don't know how to make it. I've never been good with potions; Lucius and Draco have always been the brewers in the family," Narcissa answered.

"And why didn't you buy it already made from that Bulstrode guy?" Harry asked.

"He didn't have any already made and no one else would sell to me," Narcissa explained.

"Fine, whatever, I guess he could brew a couple harmless potions, but that's it," Harry acquiesced. "And I'm checking those ingredients against the potions your making, to make sure you're telling the truth about what you're brewing."

"Thank you Auror Potter," Narcissa replied, handing over the bag of ingredients to Harry.

Malfoy went to his room, retrieved a potions book, and handed it to Harry with two potions marked with slips of parchment. Harry opened the book and started reading the preface to the potions, making sure they weren't in any way dangerous at any stage. While Harry read, Draco and Narcissa started talking about baby matters and the possibility of moving back into Malfoy Manor.

"I do hope I'm allowed back in soon," Narcissa was saying. "All our baby furniture is inside."

"I'm not sure I'll be allowed to move back. No one's told me how long I'm to stay with Potter," Malfoy replied.

And then Malfoy and Narcissa turned to look expectantly at Harry. "I don't know either Malfoy," Harry replied, looking up from the book. The first potion, for the nausea, really did seem to be completely harmless.

"This is silly; our families are being united by this child; I think it's time we start addressing each other on a first name basis. Harry, I want you to call me Cissy," Narcissa said.

"And I guess you can call me Draco," Malfoy said unenthusiastically.

"Alright Cissy, Draco." The name got stuck in Harry's throat like a lump, but Harry forced it out.

"If they don't let me go home soon Harry, would you be opposed to moving into the Manor with me and Mother? I don't fancy living here with the baby," Malfoy said.

"No, I won't agree to that. You have to be out of your mind if you think I'd move in there. Are you forgetting that Bellatrix tortured Hermione there?" Harry asked.

"She tortured me there too," Malfoy replied.

"Then how can you want to go back there?" Harry asked indignantly.

"Harry, you have to understand that it's our home. Horrible things were done there, but it's still our home," Cissy said.

"Well I won't live there and I don't want my child living there either," Harry said, before getting up to leave the room and taking the potion ingredients and potions book with him. It was the first thing he'd ever said about his child. Up until now it'd been Malfoy's child. It was still an abstract concept, but even if it was Malfoy's, it was a baby and didn't deserve to grow up under the same roof that Bellatrix and Voldemort had tortured under.

Harry let Cissy and Malfoy catch up without him in the drawing room, while he hid out in his bedroom checking the ingredients against the potions in the book. When he was sure the potions ingredients really for the potions Cissy said they were for, he came out to return the potions book and ingredients to Malfoy, asking only why there was so much of each ingredient; enough to make three batches of each potion. Cissy had explained that she bought extra, since Draco would need it, the ingredients wouldn't spoil quickly, and she had had such trouble acquiring the ingredients in the first place. That seemed reasonable enough, so Harry went back to his room and read one of his new Auror training books.

Harry came out of his room twice more before dinner to check on Malfoy and Cissy and both times he found them in the small room next to the kitchen brewing the anti-nausea potion. Harry thought the room was intended to be a dining room, but it had been set up for brewing since the summer back before fifth year when he first stayed at Grimmauld Place, so it was the logical choice for Malfoy to set up his cauldron. The anti-nausea potion wasn't complicated, nor was the nutrient potion, so Harry figured they wouldn't take Malfoy long to brew. And as expected, Malfoy was done with the first in time for dinner.

Harry shooed Cissy away after dinner and he didn't participate in any of their absurd discussions about the baby during dinner. Well they weren't entirely absurd, but the two Malfoys were discussing whether the baby was a boy or a girl, based on no actual information in favor of either likelihood. It was all about what recent dreams Narcissa had had that it was a girl and Draco's gut feelings that it was a boy. Harry wanted nothing to do with the whole discussion.

That night Harry didn't bother getting up out of bed when he heard Malfoy's screams. He was lying there awake, staring at the ceiling and he knew he should've gotten up to check on Malfoy, but he didn't feel like it, so he lay there instead. It was only a few minutes later when his door opened and Malfoy came in, which was awkward, because now Malfoy knew Harry was awake and that Harry hadn't come to check on Malfoy. Malfoy just looked at Harry accusingly and went over to Malfoy's usual corner.

Harry didn't want to ask it, but he did anyway. "What was it this time?"

"It's not important; you obviously don't care," Malfoy replied.

"I didn't hear you. I thought you were asleep," Harry lied. Malfoy didn't respond to that. "Come on, tell me already."

"You obviously don't want to know. I'll just go back to my bed…" Malfoy trailed off, but made no move to get back up.

Harry was too tired to deal with this. He had to be up in the morning and he hadn't been to sleep yet. He'd been up more nights than he'd gotten a good night's sleep lately. He got up and kneeled down in front of Malfoy and placed his hands on Malfoy's knees. "Will you please just tell me what it is?" Harry requested.

"I dreamed you took the baby away from me," Malfoy said, unshed tears shinning in his eyes.

"Why would you dream that?"

"Probably because the girl Weasley said you would."

"She said what? When?" Harry asked. Ginny had been outside with him at first and then had stormed off to her room. It wasn't even until after Ron had spoken with her that she had come down and been in the same room as Malfoy. Harry hadn't heard her say anything to Malfoy.

"When you went in the kitchen with Weasley and Granger."

"You know, everyone at the Burrow is named Weasley. You'll have to start calling him Ron."

Malfoy nodded, but didn't look up from his knees.

"Look, I don't want to take your baby from you."

"Do you want our baby at all?"

"No, not really," Harry said, but knew instantly he didn't mean it. He said it because that's what he thought he should feel and what Malfoy wanted to hear, but Malfoy clenched his fists and shut his eyes. Harry saw tears running down Malfoy's cheeks, as Malfoy jumped up and went back to Malfoy's room.

Harry followed after Malfoy and asked, "What do you want from me? I thought you didn't want me to take the baby from you?"

"I don't, but I'd hoped you'd be somewhat interested in your child!" Malfoy shouted. "You won't let us go home, but you don't want us either."

"Look, I'm not going to abandon my kid, but it's still a bit early. I don't really know what I'm doing here."

"Just go away; we don't need you anyway," Malfoy said thickly. His shoulders shook and Harry knew he was crying. "I can raise the baby on my own."

"I'll give you child support if that's what you want."

"I don't need your money; you can keep it."

"I don't know what you want. I'm trying here, I am, but we weren't even friends."

"I don't need your pity Potter."

"Fine!" Harry said with a huff and went back to his room and shut his door so that he wouldn't have to hear Malfoy's crying.

Harry felt like an arse. Malfoy was obviously emotional from the pregnancy and Harry had said the wrong thing. Within moments of saying he didn't want the baby, Harry knew it was a lie. Maybe his life would be easier without the baby and he would stand a chance at getting Ginny back, but as long as there was a child of his in this world, he couldn't act like it didn't exist. He couldn't act like Voldemort's dad did and let a child grow up feeling unloved and unwanted; he had enough of that himself growing up with the Dursleys.

Harry may never like Malfoy, but he'd still give Malfoy child support and take the kid to the park on weekends to play catch; probably hang crayon drawings on his icebox too. He had been trying to explain that to Malfoy, but Malfoy had shut him down and been unwilling to hear it. Part of him wanted to go back into Malfoy's room and make Malfoy understand, but the other part of him didn't want to deal with Malfoy anymore tonight. He was exhausted and needed to sleep and they both needed to calm down so they could talk about this like adults.

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Author's Note: You all gave me some amazing story ideas; thank you all so much! Harry's starting to come around and warming up to the baby idea :)

Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Malfoy was brewing again on Monday while Harry was at work. It gave Malfoy something to do during the day. Harry meant to talk to Malfoy about their argument when he got home from work, but he couldn't bring himself to mention it and Malfoy seemed to be ignoring him. Malfoy spent the evening locked away in his room and Harry let him.

Harry kept trying to work up the courage to talk to Malfoy, but then it was late and Malfoy was already asleep when he opened Malfoy's door. Thus Harry resolved to speak to Malfoy the next day about it. That night Harry wasn't woken up by Malfoy's screams, nor did Malfoy come into Harry's room; instead Malfoy cast a muffling charm on his room, so that Harry wouldn't hear him.

Harry apparated home Tuesday evening determined to go through with the talk and not put it off another day. When Harry opened the door to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, he was greeted by the smell of apple pie; warm pie crust, apples, and cinnamon. Kreacher had never baked him a pie before and Malfoy definitely wasn't the baking type, so Harry wondered what was going on. He went upstairs and immediately spotted the culprit behind the pie; Molly Weasley was in his drawing room knitting with Malfoy. Neither of them had much on their needles, so Harry couldn't tell what they were making, but Molly seemed to be better at it.

"Oh drat, I dropped another stich, Molly," Malfoy said, holding out his work to the older woman.

"It's no problem dear, you just pick it back up like this," Molly said, fixing the knitting quickly and handing it back to Malfoy.

"Hullo Molly," Harry greeted.

"Oh Harry dear, you're home. Good. Draco, why don't you go check on our roast?" Molly asked, obvious in her desire to get Harry alone.

Malfoy agreed and Harry took the seat across from the witch.

"What's going on Molly?" Harry asked once Malfoy was out of the room.

"Draco and I had a lovely day together. I showed him how to cook a roast with all of the fixings and bake an apple pie, and we've just been knitting," Molly said. "Just between you and me dear, he's bloody awful in the kitchen. I wouldn't let him make the toast without supervision."

Harry nodded; he had Kreacher and no plans to make Malfoy cook. Malfoy making nice with Molly seemed just as surreal today as it had Saturday, but at least Molly had kept Malfoy busy and out of trouble for the day.

"Harry, I want to talk to you about Draco and the baby. He told me what you said. I know this is all quite sudden and a shock to you, but you can't possibly mean that. I know you don't exactly get on with him, but he's pregnant with your child Harry and you ought to be more considerate and understanding. He is the victim in this whole pregnancy mess. He didn't consent to being impregnated by You-Know-Who and he didn't have a choice in the matter."

Harry knew that what Molly said was true, but deep down he thought it was Malfoy's fault. "He's not completely innocent either. If he hadn't taken the mark, then this would have never happened."

"He was a child, Harry, same as you. If he hadn't taken the mark, he would be dead for refusing You-Know-Who. Then when you were lying in the forbidden forest, Cissy would have had no reason to lie to You-Know-Who and protect you. You would be dead and some other person would be pregnant with your baby, which would be raised by You-Know-Who."

Harry had a sudden thought of Bellatrix carrying his child and shuddered in revulsion; Malfoy was definitely not the worst person that Voldemort could have chosen to carry this baby. And Molly did have a point, that Harry would probably be dead if it hadn't been for Cissy and Malfoy each saving him once. And if he hadn't had Malfoy's wand, he wouldn't have beaten Voldemort the way he had. Harry nodded his head, indicating that he was listening to Molly and agreed with her. Maybe Malfoy wasn't totally innocent, but nor was he to blame for this mess.

"A baby is a person, not something you can cast away because it's inconvenient, Harry," Molly continued. "You may not think so now, but once that baby is here you're going to grow to love him or her. One day you will regret burning these bridges with Draco and your child. A child is a precious gift and you may never get another."

"I didn't mean what I said Molly, honest. I thought that was what he wanted me to say and when I realized it was the wrong thing, I tried to take it back, but he didn't want to listen to me."

"He said you've made it quite clear that you feel he should get an abortion and that you want nothing to do with this child."

"Yeah, I said that, but I didn't mean it. I was trying to get up the courage to talk to him all last night, but when I finally did, he was already asleep."

"Alright dear, that's a good start, but you need to stop saying such insensitive things. Draco is pregnant and highly emotional. He's unmarried and in Ministry custody, which makes him vulnerable. He told me that he feels like a prisoner trapped here with someone who doesn't want him around and doesn't feel his baby has a right to exist. And he has no one to turn to, besides his mother, since most of his family, including his father, is in Ministry custody. He's barely eighteen and pregnant with a baby that he didn't ask for, but he's still trying to make the best of it and you aren't making things easier on him."

"Alright, I'll watch my mouth, but other than that I've been taking care of him. I've fed him, retrieved his clothes, and even gave him back his wand. What else am I supposed to do?"

"You need to make sure he has a proper balanced diet and access to the proper pregnancy approved potions. You need to show him that you care about his well-being and that of your child. Right now he is worried sick, because he thinks he'll be stuck here forever under the same roof as you and have to raise his child with a dad around who hates them. That wouldn't be a good situation for any child to be in and it's a stressful one to expect a pregnant man to cope with."

"I don't want him taking the baby back to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix tortured Hermione there."

"You can't keep him and the baby here Harry; not when you don't want either of them. It's not fair to Draco and it's not fair to the baby."

"I do want the baby! I told Malfoy I'd pay him child support and when it's older, I'll take it to the park for walks."

"You sound like you're talking about a crup." Molly looked at Harry sternly, her eyes boring into him.

"Urgh! I'm trying Molly, honest, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't have a dad; I never knew my dad and I don't know what I should do to be a good one."

"You're getting ahead of yourself Harry; the baby isn't here yet. For now, what you need to do is to take care of Draco. Dromeda and I can help you out with that until you figure it out and it sounds like Narcissa Malfoy was here Sunday doing just that. Blimey Harry, when he asked me what to do about nausea Saturday I had assumed he was already on the anti-nausea potion; you really should have had him on it all this time and it's a good job his mum came by with it and the nutrient potion."

"I'd really appreciate you and Dromeda helping out, but isn't Dromeda too busy taking care of Teddy?"

"She can bring him along. It will be good for Draco to have company and to be around a baby; they seemed to get on well Saturday."

"Yes, they did. What were those things you said I need to be doing for Malfoy again?"

"Harry, you need to start calling him Draco. He told me he asked you to start calling him Draco, but you wouldn't."

"Sorry, it's just hard to get used to calling him that, when he's been Malfoy for the last seven years."

"Well now's the time to change that."

"Alright, I'll start calling him Draco." Harry forced Draco's name out, but it sounded odd to his ears.

"That's a start dear. And you need to buy him his own toiletries. Did you see the rash he's got from your soap?"

"No, what rash? What's wrong with my soap? He never said anything."

"He never said anything, because your products are muggle made and he thought you would be mad if he came to you and said he was allergic to something muggle. He doesn't know which product it is or which ingredient it is, because he's never used muggle products before, but he's definitely allergic to something. He told me he's been trying to stick with cleaning charms and has been avoiding the products, but he wanted to look nice for his mother, so he broke down and used them once this weekend. He's got an itchy rash behind his ears, on the back of his neck, and all over his legs."

Harry had purchased all of his toiletries from muggle retailers, because it was easier to shop in the muggle world, where he wasn't famous. "So what kind of soap do I need to get him? Hypoallergenic or something?"

"Just take him to a regular wizarding shop and let him get what he typically uses. He doesn't know what he's allergic to, so it's best to stick with something he knows is safe."

Harry agreed. He didn't want to be seen in wizarding public with Malfoy—Draco, but he figured he could just get Draco to write down a list of the products. "Alright, I'll let him pick the soap and stuff. Anything else?"

"Take him to the grocery store and let him pick out some of his own food."

"Kreacher does the grocery shopping; I'll just tell Draco to tell the elf what to get."

"Alright."

"Molly, I think the carrots are burning!" Draco called from downstairs.

"Spell the fire off then!" Molly called back. "Come on; let's go have dinner."

Harry and Molly went downstairs and passed by Kreacher, who was muttering under his breath about blood traitors kicking him out of his own kitchen.

They ate dinner together and the carrots were only a little burnt. Afterwards Harry promised to take better care of Draco and Molly left. Harry pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink and deposited the items in front of Draco in the drawing room. Draco had had his knitting out, but he put it to his side and looked up at Harry.

"What's this for?" Draco asked.

"A shopping list. Write down what soaps and food you need and I'll send Kreacher to get them," Harry said. He knew Molly had wanted him to take Draco out to go shopping, but this would work out loads better for him.

"Okay."

"And I want to talk to you about what I said Sunday night."

"There's no need. I got the message; you don't want me and the baby around. We'll be out of your hair and never bother you again once the Ministry lets us go. So if you would just talk to your boss about arranging for my charges to be dropped, I'll be on my way. I won't ever bother you again and I can raise my baby on my own. You don't have to like the baby or be part of the baby's life; you only have to let the baby exist and not actively do harm to him or her.

"No, er, that's not what I wanted to say."

"The noble thing to do is to leave us alone. Does your hero complex not apply to me and my child? Maybe it works on everyone except Malfoys."

"Urg, just be quiet and listen will you." Draco nodded and was quiet, so Harry continued. "I didn't mean what I said; I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt the baby or anything."

"Thank you for that. I'll make your list."

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Author's Note: Harry and Draco didn't have much of a talk, so I think they'll have to have another one soon. What do you think Draco is thinking and feeling? And how much of it should he share with Harry?

Please Review!


	10. Chapter 10

Harry sent Kreacher to the store to buy Draco's requests and things went back to how they had been, except that Draco smelled better and wasn't vomiting on a daily basis. Draco's soaps were plain with Shea butter extract and no other additive; they smelled good and Harry could see the advantage of simplicity for someone with skin allergies. The foods Draco bought were all health foods, which Harry had to admit, were probably good for someone who was pregnant to be eating. And Draco stopped casting the muffling charm on his room, so Harry woke up when Draco had nightmares again. Draco's nightmares were slightly less frequent, although they still occurred several times a week.

Molly came over while Harry was at work to keep Draco company every day that week. When Harry came home each night there was evidence that Molly and Draco had been cooking and knitting together. Whatever it was Draco was knitting was slowly growing longer and each night there was another one of Molly's delicious recipes on the table. There was even a dirty nappy in the rubbish bin once, indicating Dromeda and Teddy had been over. When Harry questioned Kreacher about it, the elf confirmed Harry's suspicion and added that Cissy had been with the women as well. And the following day there was even more evidence that Black women had been in the house.

Harry came home Thursday to find a handsome looking painted man with a striking resemblance to Sirius in Sirius' mum's portrait. The two had been holding hands, looking into each other's eyes, and snogging when Harry walked in the front door. They separated their oil painted lips to look at Harry and then the man greeted Harry warmly and Sirius' mum even gave him a bit of a wave.

Harry went upstairs and asked Draco about it and he explained that Cissy and Dromeda had brought their mother over and the three Black women had had a chat with Walburga's portrait. The women thought that Walburga was lonely and out of touch with reality, so they brought over a portrait of Sirius' dad. They hung it out of the way in a closet, but as long as it was inside Grimmauld Place, it would be able to share a frame with Walburga. Harry thought Walburga's silence was welcome, but he was slightly revolted by the romantic relationship occurring in his entry way, so he covered the painting back up with the thick black curtains. It was bad enough he still had to hear the snogging, giggles, and sensual whispers when he passed by.

Draco had the women to keep him company during the day, but only Molly was ever there by the time Harry got home. She didn't stick around for dinner or tell Harry off again, but instead she winked and smiled at Harry. He thought she was pleased to see that he was taking better care of Draco. Harry did his best to watch what he said around Draco and he was proud of himself with how well he was doing. Harry certainly didn't make Draco cry again.

Harry threw himself into his work and spent his evenings thinking these days. With each passing day, the idea that the baby was a real person grew stronger in his mind, taking root and permeating his thoughts. It happened gradually over time, but every night when Harry was sitting in front of the fire contemplating the situation, he would think about Draco and the baby and what he wanted. Harry began to wonder how he could have been so determined to get rid of the baby before, because he no longer wanted to be rid of the baby at all.

This pregnancy wasn't just Voldemort screwing with Harry. It wasn't just a result of Draco's irrational feelings for an unwanted parasite. There was a baby, a real human baby, growing and coming into existence. And it wasn't just any baby, but it was Harry's baby. Sure Harry could walk away and leave Draco to raise the baby on his own, but Harry began to think he didn't want that. This baby could be the first authentic family member Harry has ever had. Yes, Harry had the Weasleys, Hermione, and his other friends as his adopted family, but this baby would really and truly be his family.

Harry hadn't yet thought about how Draco fit into this picture that was forming in his head. It was enough for him to contemplate having the baby in the picture; he couldn't fathom Draco in it too. Sure Draco would be there and take care of the baby, but then when the kid was older, Harry could take it for a few hours on the weekends. They could go flying or to the park together. One thing that Harry knew for certain was that he wouldn't abandon his child.

Harry knew what it felt like to be abandoned. Even if the baby wouldn't be completely alone in this world because Draco and Cissy would always be there to love it, Harry still couldn't stand the thought that his child would feel unwanted or uncared for by Harry. His child wouldn't feel even a fraction of the pain he had felt growing up with the Dursleys. His baby would feel loved. Maybe they wouldn't be the typical happy family, but they could still be a happy family. Maybe he and Draco could finally learn how to share.

And maybe Harry could find a witch who would still have him, even with a child. Sure Ginny had dumped him, but there were loads of other witches out there. He regularly received requests for dates and the occasional marriage proposal. The photographers waited outside the Auror department in hopes of catching a glimpse of him for the papers. His name was still mentioned in every single Daily Prophet. He was a hot item right now and maybe that fame would mean another chance at love with someone who was more understanding about his situation with Draco and the baby than Ginny was.

The more Harry thought about the baby, the more he realized that he needed to talk to Draco about it. Draco was the other parent and if they were to share a child, they would need to talk and come to some sort of agreement with regards to the baby. Draco was staying with Harry for now, but that was because he was legally required to do so. What would happen if the charges against Draco were dropped? Would Draco leave, take the baby with him, and never let Harry see the baby again? Harry didn't know, but he knew he had to find out; he couldn't put this discussion off any longer.

Saturday night after dinner Harry and Draco walked back up to the second floor together. Draco made to continue on to his room, but Harry stopped him.

"Draco, can we talk?" Harry asked.

"Yes, what about?" Draco asked, following Harry into the drawing room.

"The baby. I know you've decided to keep it and I want to know how that's going to work. We're living together now, but that might not always be the case. Odds are that you'll eventually be cleared of all charges and will be free to go. What will you do then?"

"I'll go back home to the Manor with my mother. I know you don't want the baby, so you don't have to worry about me fire-calling you for help or anything. I'll have Mother to help me with nappy changes and midnight feedings and I don't need your money either. I won't tell the child you abandoned us or anything like that. In fact, I won't even tell him you're the other father if you don't want me to. You can marry some witch and get on with your life."

"No, that's not…urgh…why is this so hard?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"I imagine it has to do with being raised by muggles. Muggleborns do have a certain lack of eloquence that you seem to also possess."

"Not helping."

"Alright, I'll just sit down and wait for you to come up with something to say," Draco said, sitting down on the old sofa and waiting patiently.

Harry paced back and forth a few times while he tried to formulate what he wanted to say. "Look Draco, if you're having this baby then it'll be mine too. I'm not going to turn my back on it and pretend like it doesn't exist. I'll give you child support, but I want visitation in return. I'm horrible with babies, so maybe at first I can visit it at your house or something. But once it can talk and stuff, then I'd like to have it come over here on weekends. I could take it to the park and stuff. Would you be okay with that?"

Draco stared at Harry with his mouth hanging open and one eyebrow raised for half a minute before he asked, "Are you having me on?"

"No, I'm not. I'm serious Draco."

"This isn't your idea of a laugh?"

"No, it's not, I swear. I know I was a bit of a jerk before, but now I think that was selfish of me. I wasn't thinking of it as an actual human being before. Now that this baby is definitely coming, everything has changed. I won't abandon it or let it think I don't care."

"Let me get this straight: last week you wanted me to get an abortion, but now you've changed your mind and want the baby?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"And I suppose next month you'll want us out of your life again."

"No. I was being selfish and short sighted before; I definitely want the baby now."

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't believe you right away."

"What's that mean? Are you saying you won't let me be part of my kid's life?"

"Not necessarily. I'm saying that if you change your mind again it will be better for the child if you weren't in its life at all. I won't have you popping in and out and leaving me with a crying baby. I don't want him or her wondering where you are and why you don't love them anymore."

"It's not going to be like that, I swear. I'm not going to change my mind again. Will you please let me be involved?"

"If you can prove to me that you are stable in your desire to be a father to our child, then yes, you can be a part of their life. But that means that you can't change your mind between now and when the baby comes or you're out. I won't have my child emotionally damaged because you can't make up your mind."

"I don't want that either. I want to be a good dad."

"I'm glad to hear it," Draco said and now he smiled. It was a huge genuine grin that lit up Draco's face and Harry thought it made Draco look so much more appealing.

"I want us to be friends too. I don't see how we can raise a child hating each other."

"I already told you Harry, I don't hate you. Do you hate me?"

"Not so much anymore. Do you think we can try being friends Draco?"

"I already offered you my friendship. I was always willing to try."

Somehow Harry couldn't believe that. During their very heated six years of school rivalry, he had trouble imagining that they could have stopped fighting with each other and become friends. But that was before, back when they were kids. Now they were adults and they had a child at stake. Maybe they really could put their differences behind them and cultivate a friendship, for the sake of their child. It didn't matter that they weren't a couple, just as long as they both loved their child and did what was in its best interest.

"Good, let's start now. We can start over from the beginning," Harry said.

"Alright."

Harry held his hand out and said, "Hello, I'm Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you."

Draco rolled his eyes, but shook Harry's hand. "The name is still Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

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Author's Note: I would like to thank every one who has reviewed this story so far. I'm not planning on making this story super long, so I think we're already around the half way (or at least the one third way) point on this story. I think Hermione and Ron will stop by next.

Please Review!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I would like to thank you all for your support and reviews! Please continue to let me know what you think :)

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Sunday Ron and Hermione came over. Draco avoided Harry's friends, mostly sticking to his room and only coming out to use the restroom and fetch things he'd left in the drawing room, such as a pregnancy book and his knitting. Hermione's eyes followed Draco every time he popped into view and Harry could tell that she wanted to know how things were going, but she kept silent on the subject. Instead she had started off with giving them updates on Hogwarts and their old professors. Then Ron had gone on about what he'd been doing with George and the newly reopened joke shop, which was taking Ron, Ginny, George, Angelina, and Lee to man in order to keep up with the back-to-school demand.

And now Ron was dominating the conversation, with his obvious excitement for his and Hermione's upcoming trip to Australia. Hermione had sent her parents away and it was time to get them back, before Hermione's planned return to Hogwarts in September. Ron thought it was rotten luck that Harry couldn't go with them and had to stay to watch Malfoy, but Harry secretly didn't mind not going, because he didn't fancy being the third wheel. Harry was sure that this was going to turn into a romantic holiday for the two lovebirds and he wasn't fond of watching his two best friends make out; that was almost as bad as when Sirius' parents' portraits did it.

"We've got a pair of tickets to a local Quidditch match, a car rental lined up for a two day drive in the country, and tickets to that museum…what was it again Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Indigenous Cultures and Art, featuring works by ancient Australian Aboriginal witches and wizards. I've been reading all about the subject; it's quite fascinating," Hermione said and then started telling Harry and Ron all about it, with a surprising amount of enthusiastic input from Ron.

Hermione was interrupted by an owl at the window, which Ron quickly jumped up and let in. "Do you think this is that reply back from your parents Hermione?" Ron asked as the bird flew inside the drawing room.

But the owl wasn't for Ron or Hermione, nor was it for Harry. Instead, it flew down the hall and pecked on Draco's door; being a large townhouse in London, Draco's room didn't have a window of its own. Ron was already up, curious, and followed the owl closely. Hermione looked at Harry, Harry shrugged, and then they too got up and followed the owl to Draco's room. Draco opened his door and retrieved a rather thick parcel from the owl. Before Draco could close the door again, Ron stuck his foot into the jamb to prevent it from closing and grabbed hold of the edge of the door.

"Whatcha got there Malfoy?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure; it appears to be from my mother, but I haven't opened it yet," Draco replied coldly, but in a civil enough manner.

"Harry, you can't be letting him have private conversations with known Death Eaters right under your roof; you have to inspect it first!" Ron proclaimed.

"My mother is _not_ a known Death Eater, Weasley," Draco said with a sneer.

Harry looked to Hermione for help, unsure of what to do. He'd been letting Draco communicate with whoever Draco wanted, but the envelope was over an inch thick and it was possible that it contained something dangerous.

"Boys, we are all adults. Malfoy, would you care to come into the drawing room while you open that? If it's papers from you mum, like you said, you can take it back to your room. If it's something dangerous, we'll be able to dispose of it for you," Hermione said.

"I'm not familiar with muggle customs Granger, but in my family people don't tend to send pregnant relatives dangerous parcels via owl," Draco said, but stepped out of the room, past Ron, and walked towards the drawing room. "It's a wonder there are so many muggles in the world with their custom of sending explosive letters to pregnant people."

"That's a very thick parcel Draco; what if it's not from your mum? What if someone just wants you to think that it's from her?" Harry asked, ignoring Draco's jibe and following Draco back to the drawing room. Hermione and Ron were behind them.

"That was my mother's owl, Harry, and the label is in my mother's writing. It's safe," Draco said, sitting down and pulling out a thick stack of parchment from the envelope.

"Well, what is it?" Harry asked expectantly.

"Custody paperwork. It seems our family attorney, Mr. Rosier, is still in business and put together this paperwork at my mother's behest."

"What sort of custody paperwork?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Give me a minute to read her note to find out," Draco replied.

That seemed reasonable, so Harry agreed. He motioned to Ron and Hermione and had them follow him into his bedroom down the hall to fill his friends in on the Draco situation. Ron didn't seem interested in the details and kept cracking open the door to check on Draco. After the third time, Harry gestured with his hand for Ron to just go out there and keep an eye on Draco, since Ron didn't seem to trust Draco with a stack of parchment. Harry didn't see what harm could possible come from parchment, so he stayed in the room and continued to talk to Hermione. Hermione was very interested in all of the details of the Draco situation and probably would have kept Harry in that room talking about it all day, if they weren't interrupted by Draco's voice from the drawing room.

"Harry, you can come back now and call off your guard dog; I've read the letter from my mother," Draco said.

And so Harry and Hermione went back into the drawing room and retook their seats.

"Well, what is it?" Harry asked.

"My mother had Mr. Rosier draw up documents for you to sign over your parental rights of my baby to me. These would free you from all responsibility towards my child and allow you to go about your life as if you weren't the father. Basically it's like a partial adoption, with one parent giving up all rights and responsibilities and the other parent taking all of them. You wouldn't have to pay child support and the child would have no claim to inherit anything from you," Draco said.

Ron nodded, seemingly in full support of this idea. Hermione's lips were pursed in disapproval and Harry could tell she was moments away from turning a disappointed glare on him.

"No, I'll not agree to that. I told you last night I want visitation," Harry said.

"Yeah, and you have to be careful or your kid will be raised as a pureblood Death Eater," Ron said, suddenly flopping to the other extreme.

"Oh, is that a condition that runs in your family Harry? I'll have to tell the healers about that and get the baby checked," Draco said snidely.

"Ron, honestly, Malfoy isn't going to raise Harry's child to be a Death Eater, are you Draco?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'd rather my heir didn't end up in Azkaban. My father has bad things to say about the place," Draco replied, holding his head up high and trying to maintain his dignity. "Bad reviews, no five star accommodations, and not worthy of a Malfoy."

"Right, so back to this custody agreement; I won't sign it. Why'd you even have your mum get whoever to make it, when I told you I want visitation?" Harry asked Draco.

"You only told me that last night and I haven't had the chance to write my mother with the news yet. Truthfully I wanted to wait a couple of weeks and see how often you change your mind, before I tell my mother anything. I asked her to make this up after you told me you didn't want the baby at all last week. If you really have changed your mind for good, I'll have her contact Mr. Rosier again and draw up joint custody documentation accordingly," Draco answered.

"You do that; I'm not changing my mind again," Harry insisted.

"Are you sure about that? I bet that Jennifer Weasley would take you back if you signed these. She probably just doesn't want my child taking all of your money and being your first born heir. You could still marry her and have a dozen red haired Weasley children," Draco said.

"My sister's name is Ginevra," Ron corrected with a scowl.

Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, tempted by Draco's offer, despite his desire to do right by this baby. If there was a possibility that Ginny really might take him back, then he couldn't help but to consider it.

"No, I don't think that will happen. I've talked to Ginny, Harry, and she won't even consider it, unless Malfoy has an abortion. She seems to think that you'd never be able to turn your back on your own child," Hermione said.

"She's got that right, at least," Harry said.

"I've talk to her too mate; I don't think your chances of getting her back are any good," Ron said honestly. Regardless of what Malfoy was playing at, Harry was still his best friend and deserved to know the truth.

"Honestly Harry, I think she was more in love with her idea of you, than actually you. You're better off without her," Hermione said.

"And she's moved on; that Michael Corner started coming back around," Ron said.

"Well that pretty much settles it; I'll just keep my parental rights to _my_ child and find a witch who will take me with child support payments and weekly visitation," Harry said.

"Suit yourself, but excuse me if I don't send my mother out right away to have the papers drawn up," Draco replied.

"Harry, you shouldn't let his attorney draw up the papers; what if he does something sneaky and underhanded?" Ron asked.

"Well if you'll just excuse me, I'd rather go back to my room than listen to your friend's idiocy," Draco said, getting up and taking his packet of parchment with him.

Draco was almost to his room when Ron asked in a carrying whisper, "Did you ever find out what he's playing at mate?"

Draco turned back around and glowered at Ron. "I know you are thick Weasley, but Harry's boss told him what I was playing at before Harry even came and got me from St. Mungo's. Since I know your mental abilities are lacking, I'll spell it out for you. I am pregnant. The only thing I'm playing at is trying to bring a new life into this world. I know your father didn't place the burden of producing an heir upon your shoulders, but in my family it is considered an honor," Draco said, before storming back off to his room once more.

Draco shut the door loudly behind him and then Hermione said, "You really shouldn't have said that Ron. You're causing him more stress and that can't be good for the baby."

"Yeah and I've been watching him for almost a month now; he's really not up to anything this time," Harry said. He never thought he would be the one saying that, but there it was.

* * *

Author's Note: Well there's Ron and Hermione. I think next chapter the story will break in the papers. What do you think Rita Skeeter will have to say?

Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Harry knew he couldn't keep Draco's pregnancy from the papers forever, but he never thought that it would be Ginny who would blab. But Ginny it was, because the Prophet ran an article with Ginny's interview two Sundays after Ron and Hermione left for Australia. That prompted Harry to take another trip over to the Burrow, but this time he left Draco behind. He wanted an explanation from Ginny, but what he got was a fight. It was a loud angry fight that was broken up by Arthur and Molly. Molly had then dragged Ginny inside by the ear to talk, while Arthur had taken Harry to the shed.

Arthur pulled out a muggle cd player and began to fiddle with it while he listened to Harry's explanation of what happened. Then there had been a long rambling lecture filled with strange metaphors about the doxies and the hippogriffs, but in the end the message was something about letting failed relationships go _before_ you claw each other's eyes out. Harry was still livid in regards to Ginny and the Prophet article, but somehow his anger seemed childish and immature in front of a cool, calm, and collected Mr. Weasley. He ended up apologizing to Arthur and asking Arthur to give his regards to Molly, because he didn't think he could handle seeing Ginny again at the moment without exploding at her.

Harry returned to Grimmauld Place in a worse mood than he'd been when he left and Ron and Hermione weren't even on this side of the globe to talk to. Harry was sure that Draco would have something to say when he returned, but Draco didn't say anything. Draco was busy reading a pureblood pregnancy and parenting book in the drawing room and didn't pay Harry's foul mood any notice at all, which made Harry even madder. He wanted to rage and take this out on someone, anyone, but instead he stalked off to his room and flopped down on his bed, burying his face in his pillow.

Harry was still bristling with anger later that night when he and Draco were eating the usual elf-cooked dinner.

"Pass the salt?" Draco asked.

"Get it yourself," Harry replied.

"Alright," Draco said and got up to retrieve the salt from right next to Harry's hand. "What's your problem Harry?"

"My problem is that my girlfriend dumped me and told the papers that I've been buggering you, that's my problem!" Harry lashed out.

"I'm not exactly happy with that article either, but you don't see me taking it out on you."

"And what do you have to complain about? I thought you said you wanted the public to find out about this, because it'd help you get off."

"I didn't exactly want to be seen as a slutty home wrecker." Draco put his fork down, clearly upset.

Ginny's interview hadn't painted a pleasant picture of Draco and Draco did come across as a total slag in the article.

"Come off it. You said yourself that you wanted people to think we're together. You got what you wanted. How else did you think it'd turn out?"

"Not like this," Draco said getting up from the table, before going upstairs to his room.

Harry looked at Draco's unfinished dinner on the table. Part of him felt bad for taking his frustrations out on Draco, especially because they had been getting on lately. They had agreed to try to be friends, for the sake of the baby, and Draco had been putting forth the effort. But Harry wasn't thinking about his resolve to be civil with Draco at the moment; mostly Harry felt better for getting some of his anger off of his chest.

Draco would probably sulk in his room for a while and be fine, so Harry turned back to his own dinner.

Later, when Harry went upstairs to get ready for bed, he passed by Draco's closed door and heard crying. It wasn't loud, but there was a distinct snuffling sound. Harry sighed and decided that he probably ought to apologize to Draco, so he opened the door and found Draco crying on the bed, with his knees up to his chest and tears streaked down his face. Draco was showing a distinct baby bump these days, but it was still small enough for him to curl up on himself.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take my frustrations out on you. I know you didn't ask to be pregnant," Harry fibbed. He had meant to take his frustrations out on Draco; he just hadn't counted on Draco reacting this way. He probably should have seen this coming, but he hadn't been thinking and had assumed that Draco would respond the way he always had at school: by pulling out his wand and hexing Harry. Harry would've been much happier with Draco hexing him. In fact, he was really starting to hate seeing Draco cry, especially when it was his fault; he was going to have to try harder to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Draco nodded, but didn't say anything and kept on crying.

"You know the article really didn't come off that bad. It made me sound like a double timing bastard; you're just my innocent victim." Harry had been a bit surprised by that aspect of the article, because apparently Ginny blamed Harry completely and hardly aimed any of her viciousness at Draco, besides the bit where she called him a slag.

"Everyone's going to think I'm a slag."

"It's not that big of a deal."  
"It is."

"Why? It's no worse than being a Death Eater."

"So I'm the Death Eater slag? That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"No…Look, why don't you explain to me why you're so upset. What's so bad about people thinking you're a slag?"

"I'm a virgin."

"Wh-what?"

"A virgin Harry. I've never had sex. It seemed unfair before that I was pregnant and now everyone thinks I just threw myself at you. They probably think I've slept with half of the school."

"Blimey." Harry hadn't considered the possibility that Draco was a virgin. Sure he knew that Voldemort hadn't bothered raping Draco to conceive this baby, but Harry had assumed that Draco and Parkinson had gotten busy plenty of times. "So you and Parkinson, er?"

"Pansy's a witch, Harry. She doesn't even have the right bits to interest me."

Draco had mentioned being gay before, but Harry hadn't really paid much attention to this news before now.

"Pansy and I are just friends," Draco clarified.

"Right. Well I'm sure you'll find some pureblood bloke to marry and settle down with," Harry finally said.

"No one's going to want me after I have your baby."

"What do you want me to say?"

"That you'll tell the papers I'm not a slag."  
"I'm not going to tell the papers anything. It's bad enough Ginny talked to them. I think they know quite enough of my personal life already, don't you?"

Draco nodded and since Draco wasn't crying anymore, Harry decided to go back to his room to get ready for bed, which he did.

That night Harry was woken up by Draco coming into his room, probably after having another nightmare. Harry hadn't heard the screams, because he had been too deep in sleep.

Draco looked rather pathetic as he went over to sit in the corner of Harry's room.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, blinking open his eyes.

"Draco," Malfoy replied. "It's bad enough that I've never slept with the father of my child; we can at least be on a first name basis."

"Fine, Draco, did you have another dream?" Harry hadn't meant to call Draco by his last name again; it had just slipped in his sleepy state.

"Yeah."

Harry could see the sweat gleam on Draco's skin in the dim moonlight. Harry knew he should ask and then lead Draco back to Draco's bed, but he was too tired and groggy. Instead he pulled back his covers and motioned Draco over. Draco crawled into bed with him and Draco rested his head on Harry's chest. It was weird, but Harry was too tired to care. Instead Harry closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep.

Harry probably shouldn't have invited Draco into his bed, because after that Draco began climbing into Harry's bed at night on his own accord. Somehow having Draco in bed with him made him sleep better, so Harry didn't say anything. He was too busy waking up feeling strangely refreshed and ready to start another day of work to care that he had spent the night in the same bed as Draco.

* * *

Author's Note: So, what do you think?

Harry's birthday is coming up and that will provide the perfect excuse to get Harry and Draco out of the house and see what the wizarding world thinks about the Prophet article.

Please Review!


	13. Chapter 13

Harry came home from work on his birthday to find Draco lounging in the drawing room, still wearing his pajamas. This was unusual, because Draco was one of those people who always got dressed, even if he wasn't going anywhere. And they were going somewhere: it was Harry's eighteenth birthday and Molly was making a family dinner to celebrate. His birthday happened to fall on a Friday this year, so they didn't have to worry about staying late and being tired in the morning. And best of all, Ron and Hermione were freshly returned from Australia with Mr. and Mrs. Granger; Harry couldn't wait to see them and find out how things went.

"Draco, why aren't you ready? We need to leave for the Burrow. It's my birthday dinner, remember?" Harry asked.

"I'm not going," Draco replied, not looking up from his knitting. It was getting longer and really starting to resemble a small blanket.

"You're not going? Why not? I know for a fact that Molly invited you."

"They're your friends, not mine. I'm not welcome. You'll have more fun without me."

"Nonsense. I want you there, so get dressed and let's go."

"No, I don't feel like it."

"And why not? If this is about Ron's big mouth, I'll have a talk with him."

"That's a big part, but it's not just that."

"Then what else is there?"

"The Daily Prophet article."

"It's just to be Hermione and the Weasleys; they all know that that's a load of rubbish that Ginny planted."

"And then there's Gin-ny Weasley. If the rest of the Weasleys are coming, then your ex-girlfriend will be there too."

"Not Gin-ny, it's said like Jenny, but spelled with a G."

"Whatever."

"And Ginny's not supposed to be there; I hear she has a date for the night and will be elsewhere." Harry had inquired about Ginny with regards to this party, because after that Prophet article two weeks ago, and more specifically the fight he had with her after, he had no desire to attend a birthday celebration with her involve.

"I'm still not going. You'll have to excuse me if I don't think the birth of the Chosen One is an event worth celebrating. You better hurry up and go without me or you'll be late," Draco said, still not looking up from his knitting.

"Fine." Harry huffed and went off to his room to change out of his Auror robes. If Draco was in a foul mood, Harry didn't much fancy spending the evening with him anyway.

Fifteen minutes later Harry apparated to the lawn outside the Burrow. He blinked a few times and then vigorously rubbed his eyes in disbelief of what he was seeing. The lawn was set up more like it had been for Bill and Fleur's wedding than for a family dinner. There was a large tent erected and underneath it was a huge crowd of people chattering away. George and Angelina were on the other side of the lawn and looked to be setting up whizbangs, while Hermione and Fleur were setting up a table with a gigantic cake.

Harry dismissed his earlier plans to enter the house, and instead walked closer to the gathering. He was just passing the chicken coop when he heard Ron's voice and stopped.

"-read it, but so? He's still Harry," Ron was saying.

Harry edged closely, trying to stay hidden to listen in on what his friend was saying about him. There was a tall overgrown bush separating him from Ron and as he grew closer, he found a hole he could peak through. He saw Lee Jordon and Ernie MacMillan standing next to Ron.

"But how did it happen? You're his best mate, you must know," Ernie said.

"Yeah Ron, just tell us will you?" Lee asked.

"Don't know. Don't _want_ to know," Ron replied.

"Come off it. He's your best friend; you must be curious," a fourth boy said. Harry could see a head of blond hair turned away from him and although he recognized the voice, he couldn't place it.

"Not really. It's _Malfoy_, isn't it? I'm much happier not knowing how he got pregnant. Now if you want to hear about what I got up to with Hermione last night, I'd be more than happy to talk about that. Brilliant, it was," Ron said.

Harry certainly didn't want to hear about what Ron and Hermione got up to without him. Eww; Hermione was practically his sister. And since Ron seemed to be capable of dodging the Harry-centric questions on his own, Harry decided not to interrupt them, for fear that the boys would start pestering him.

Harry turned and started towards the main gathering again, feeling relieved as Ron's voice disappeared into the distance behind him. Bill and Percy, who had just finished setting up a pair of kegs of Butterbeer, turned and saw Harry's approach. They both rushed over, Percy offering his hand and Bill beating him to it by engulfing Harry in a hug.

"Harry! Happy birthday!" Bill exclaimed.

And that started off the greetings and well-wishing. Hermione and Fleur soon joined the queue, eager to get their chance with Harry, but Harry had to shake hands or exchange hugs with about a dozen of his friends and acquaintances first. It looked like everyone who had survived the war from their year in Gryffindor was there, along with everyone who had ever been on Harry's Quidditch team with him, besides Cormac Mclaggen. Then there were all of the Aurors from the Ministry, all of the surviving Order members, and everyone who had been in Dumbledore's army. There were a ton of people, but only about a dozen of them beat Hermione to the queue.

Once Hermione finally reached the front of the line, Harry grabbed her up into a big hug and asked his question into her bushy brown hair. "What's all this?"

"A proper birthday party for once. Now that the war's over, everyone wanted to help you celebrate. Isn't it wonderful?" Hermione asked excitedly. "Angelina and George are setting up the fireworks display. Ron's inside helping Molly. There's to be dancing and butterbeer too."

Obviously Hermione was not aware of the fact that Ron was behind the chicken coop explaining the intricacies of their sex life to a bunch of boys. Harry didn't feel the need to enlighten her, so instead he said, "Yeah, it is. Thanks Hermione. I want to hear all about Australia."

"There'll be time for that later. Now I believe the rest of the mob wants their shot at you."

Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder, past her hair, and eyed the crowd. "Right, well stay with me then and we'll talk once I get rid of everyone," Harry replied, pulling Hermione to stand by his side and wrapping his arm through her elbow, to ensure she wouldn't leave him to face the friendly mob alone. Sure they were all people he knew, but this was something he wasn't used to. He had much more practice being the outcast and having his birthday ignored completely.

"Of course Harry," Hermione replied.

And so with that settled, Harry turned back to the crowd. There were a great number of hugs, copious pats on the back, and a few dozen handshakes before the line started to thin. Towards the end, Ron, Lee, Angelina, and George appeared, apparently done with setting up their entertainment and gossiping. Harry hugged Lee and Angelina first, before turning to Ron.

"This is absolutely _brilliant_ mate! Have you seen the load of presents you've got?" Ron asked.

"No…" Harry replied.

"Well they're all over there, stacked on that table, aren't they?" Ron asked, pointing at a table that was absolutely piled with wrapped packages and bags with colorful ribbons.

"Whoa, that does look like a lot of presents," Harry replied. It was probably more presents than he'd ever had in his entire life. Dudley would be jealous.

"Well Mum did let on that your seventeenth birthday was marred by the war, so we thought we'd try again and do it right this time," George said, pushing Ron aside to hug Harry himself. "Happy birthday mate."

"Thanks George," Harry replied.

There were just a few people left, but among them were Arthur Weasley. "Move aside so the rest of us can get our chance," Arthur told his sons.

"Sorry dad," Ron replied, and shuffled to Hermione's side.

"We'll talk later," George promised with a wink.

Then Arthur Weasley was at the front of the line, but instead of stepping forward, he stepped aside and said, "Go ahead Dromeda, Molly. Ladies first, I insist."

Dromeda, holding Teddy, and Molly seemed to be just joining the line, but they bustled forward all the same. Both women gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, while a ginger-haired Teddy smacked Harry's cheek with a slimy hand.

"Oh Harry dear, I do hope you like your surprise. I know I said it would be a small family celebration, but well, everyone wanted to come too and I couldn't say no," Molly said.

"It's great Molly, really," Harry replied.

"Harry, where's Draco? I was hoping to get him to watch Teddy for me for a moment," Dromeda said, looking around.

"He didn't come," Harry replied.

"Why not? I invited him," Molly replied indignantly.

"Said he didn't feel up to it after the Prophet," Harry answered.

"Nonsense! Ginny's out with Michael, so there's no reason Draco can't come," Molly replied.

"Molly, perhaps he doesn't wish to be the pariah in this crowd. These people are Harry's friends; Draco barely knows them," Dromeda said.

"Well Draco is part of the family now and it's time everyone learns to accept that. Harry, you need to go back and get him," Molly insisted. She had that serious look she wore when she meant business, as if she could see right through him.

"Harry, you really should go back for Draco. He needs to get out of that house; keeping him coped up there isn't really the best idea," Hermione said.

"Yeah mate, and I'll keep my mouth shut this time, I swear. Mum threatened to shut it permanently if I don't," Ron added.

"Too right, I did," Molly replied. "Best remember that young man."

Harry caved to the pressure and went back to Grimmauld Place, where he found Draco locked up behind the bathroom door.

"Draco? Are you in there?" Harry asked, sure that Draco was. He could hear the sound of running water and the light was on.

"Yes, why are you back?" Draco asked through the door.

"They've sent me back for you."

"Well you can just go back without me."

"Draco, it's not just a small dinner party; Molly and Arthur have gone all out. It's a huge celebration that you'll not want to miss."

"I know and that's why I want to miss it."

"You knew?"

"Molly told me."

"And you still don't want to go?"

"Correct."

"Why?"

"They're not my friends; I'm the enemy, remember?"

"You're not the enemy anymore. You're carrying my child."

"All the more reason for them to hate me."

"If anyone has anything negative to say, then I'll put a stop to it."

"I'm a Death Eater and that party's full of Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix. Are you forgetting my role in Dumbledore's death?"

"Are you forgetting that you couldn't do it? That you lowered your wand?"

"Fat lot of good that did; the old man's still dead, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but not by your hand. Come on; this is the perfect opportunity for you to meet all of my friends and for me to set the record straight for anybody who's got anything bad to say about you."

"You're seriously going to stand up to all of your friends and proclaim my innocence?"

"Yeah, I am."

"To all of it?"

"What else is there? You saved our lives on Easter."

"I locked you in the cellar on Easter. I cornered you in the room of requirement during the final battle. I tortured under the Dark Lord's orders. I witnessed a Hogwarts teacher being eaten by that bloody snake for Salazar's sake!"

"You had no choice on Easter or with following Voldemort's orders. Granted I would've preferred if you didn't follow me into the room of requirement, but Crabbe's fire destroyed the horcrux and everyone but Crabbed survived—and well, Crabbe got what he deserved if you ask me—so no harm done. And you were just a kid; you shouldn't have been put in that situation in the first place."

"I'm two months older than you."

"Right, well back to the point: it's my birthday and I want you there."

"Why?"

"Because you're carrying my child! If we're doing this, then we might as well get it over with. You can't hide from everyone forever."

"Fine, I'll go, but you better keep your word and defend me," Draco replied and there was the sound of movement on the other side of the door.

Draco had been taking a bath, so he was not at all ready to go. It didn't take that long to dry off and throw on some clothes, but Draco didn't share Harry's ideas on the simplicity of getting ready. Instead Draco went through his usual egregiously long routine of grooming, styling his hair, and making himself look perfect. Harry was about to leave Draco and go back to the party alone, but he didn't, because he had just spent so much effort on convincing Draco to go with him.

* * *

Author's Note: So I was planning on writing Harry's whole birthday this week, but it's already pretty long and I haven't finished the rest. So I thought I'd post what I have and turn the rest into another chapter. Harry just promised to defend Draco to his friends, so who and what do you think Harry should defend Draco from? Or what else should happen once they return to the party? Any and all ideas are welcome!

Please Review!


	14. Chapter 14

By the time Draco was finally ready and Harry side-along apparated them to the Burrow, it was already growing dark. The party tent was lit up with lanterns and disco lights, crisscrossing the dance floor. Most of the guests were on the dance floor and Harry spotted Ron and Hermione dancing next to Neville and Hannah Abbott. George was the first to spot Harry and Draco and he pulled Angelina Johnson along with him to greet them.

"Hullo Harry! This party is going to be off the hook with all of the whizbangs I brought. It's good marketing, of course, because I'll get to show off all our latest merchandise. After seeing it at Harry Potter's party, everyone else will just have to have it," George said jovially.

"That's really great George; thanks," Harry replied.

"Um, Harry?" Angelina asked, glancing over at Draco, whose arm was still entwined with Harry from their apparition.

"Uh, yes, er, Angelina, this is Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is Angelina Johnson," Harry said.

"I know who she is," Draco hissed into Harry's ear, before turning to Angelina. "Johnson, it's a pleasure to see you again. You as well Weasley."

"Malfoy, you're looking radiant," Angelina replied, eying the bulge under Draco's robes and then the closeness and interlocked arms between Draco and Harry. "I thought that the article in the Prophet was just a bunch of waffle that Ginny made up, but I'm glad to see that you've found someone Harry. I'm happy for the two of you."

"Yes, well I just couldn't resists dear Harry's charm and the way he was always making it clear how little he wants me," Draco said, pinching Harry's cheek in a mockery of affection.

"Angelina, we're not together," Harry clarified, brushing Draco's fingers away from his face.

"Yes, Harry was just reminding me of the fact that I am a prisoner and not free to use the floo by myself. He brought me here by side-along," Draco said.

"So what Rita Skeeter wrote about the two of you…last Easter?" Angelina asked hesitantly.

"Rubbish, just like everything else she writes," Harry answered.

In the days following Ginny's article, there was a superfluous outpouring of articles on the subject of Harry and Draco's alleged relationship. Among the offering was a ludicrous piece by Rita Skeeter in which she claimed that Draco's pregnancy was the result of them having sex while Harry was held captive at Malfoy Manor. Harry had buggered Draco and then Draco had released Harry. It was all very star-crossed lovers, a reference which Draco hadn't understood at first. That had led to Harry explaining Shakespeare, which was totally surreal; at least Draco had heard of William Shakespeare, even if he hadn't heard of Romeo and Juliet.

"Um, not all of it. I did release you from my home last Easter and this baby was made right around that time," Draco said.

"And how exactly did _that_ happen, Harry?" George asked with a big shit eating grin plastered on his face.

Harry groaned and thought, _Not you too_.

"It's none of your business, Weasley," Draco sneered, holding his head high.

"Right, I think I'll go with Draco on that one," Harry added.

Luckily the truth was so outrageous that no one believed it, especially when it was buried so deep under all of the rubbish published at the same time and was from a questionable source. The Aurors in the know were mum on the subject, as were the healers who had treated Draco. That left only one orderly who had overheard the nurses talking about Draco at St. Mungo's to tell the story. Most folks thought the orderly was making it up and barely glanced at the piece in the back of the Prophet. And well, Harry was not about to set the record straight, because he didn't want the wizarding world to know; it wasn't any of their business how his child had been conceived.

"And here I was thinking our little Harry was still a virgin," George replied, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

Luckily it was at this time that Molly announced that dinner was served. They all got in line at the buffet, Ron and Hermione coming up behind the group and joining them in the line.

"How have you been Draco," Hermione asked politely.

"A bit better, actually. The morning sickness is pretty much gone now," Draco replied.

"That's great!" Hermione hugged Draco and Draco patted Hermione's back awkwardly with a flummoxed expression on his face, until Hermione pulled away again. "Everyone here is treating you alright, I hope?"

"Alright, I guess. That Greg Weasley was asking about mine and Harry's sex life," Draco replied.

Ron's cheeks began to flare, as if he'd been caught discussing the topic too.

"George," Harry corrected.

"Honestly, how do you expect me to keep all of them straight?" Draco asked indignantly.

Ron sighed heavily and bit his lip, clearly struggling to keep his mouth shut over this.

"Well George is the one that was on the Quidditch team with Harry, wasn't he?" Hermione asked, trying to help Draco out. Draco nodded. "Then Bill is the one who got into the altercation with Greyback."

"Ronald's the loudmouth git," George added.

"Percy's the Ministry git," Ron said, losing his battle with his mouth.

"Charlie is never here, always off in Romania," Harry offered.

"Arthur is their dad; his hair is greying and he's obviously older," Hermione said.

"Fred is dead," George said solemnly.

That ended that topic of conservation and they were already up to the food, loading their plates full of Molly's amazing cooking. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Draco took their plates to a corner table, where they were joined by Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Neville's date Hannah. Harry's friends were curious as to what was going on with Draco and the pregnancy, but other than acknowledging that Draco was indeed pregnant by him, Harry didn't want to talk about it. Instead, Ron and Hermione dominated the conversation with their recount of the events of their vacation. There had been a lot of fun, but also quite a bit of work involved with putting the Granger's memories to rights. By the end, they had managed, the Grangers had remembered, Hermione had been forgiven, and the Grangers were in the process of moving back to Great Britain.

Towards the end of the meal, when everyone was eating dessert, there was a lull in the conversation.

"Longbottom, I wanted to thank you for killing that awful snake. I heard you fought my horrible Aunt Bella too; she was the second most despicable person I've ever met and I'm glad Molly killed her," Draco said quietly, head turned towards Neville.

Harry had to really strain to pick up Draco's words over the sound of the party.

"Um, you're welcome?" Neville asked, unsure of himself. It wasn't every day that Malfoy thanked him or acknowledged his worth in any way.  
"And I know Professor Snape was proud of you. He and I were always trying to protect the students from the bloody Carrows. We couldn't protect them all, but you and your gang really helped," Draco replied.

"Um, I was there and I don't remember seeing you and Snape fighting against the Carrows," Seamus put in from across the table.

"Oh no?

"No, whenever you were present you would turn and run away," Seamus insisted.

"And where I ran to was the headmaster's office where I informed Snape of what was going on. Then Snape would step in to give the student in trouble an extra special punishment. But Snape's extra special punishments were just detention with Hagrid, Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, or Slughorn," Draco retorted.

"Yeah, remember that time I was sure I was going to get it for freeing that group of second years?" Neville asked.

"Yeah," Seamus replied. "What of it?"

"Well the Carrows were about to curcio me when Snape walked it, marched me by ear to his office, and set me detention with Sprout. Sprout was proud of me and the two of us spent our Saturday working in the greenhouse, which is something I would have done anyway," Neville stated.

"That one wasn't me; that was Daphne Greengrass. There was a group of us patrolling the castle, watching the Carrows and reporting back to Snape," Draco said with a shrug.

"That was very noble of you Draco," Harry said.

"Yeah, um, really brilliant Draco. Er, Hermione, care to dance?" Ron asked.

Hermione agreed and the two lovebirds went off to dance. Neville and Hannah followed shortly after them. That left just Harry, Draco, Dean, and Seamus.

"Harry, I can't sit here quietly anymore. I've been waiting all evening for you to explain, but you haven't. I don't know how you can stand being with _him_ after everything he's done!" Seamus exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Draco. "Oh, sure, he helped protect students from the Carrows and now he gets to play the hero? I don't think so! The real heroes are the witches and wizards who gave their lives standing up to You-Know-Who and fighting for what's right!"

"He was dating Lavender before, you know," Dean said, offering Harry an excuse for Seamus' behavior.

"Lavender—now she's a real hero—fought Greyback, she did. Was killed by him too," Seamus added.

Harry gaped at Seamus' outburst, not sure what to do. Sure he felt bad about Lavender, but Draco hadn't killed Lavender. Draco hadn't even had a wand by that time.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Draco said solemnly.

"You're sorry? Lavender is _dead_, but you're _sorry_? I guess that just makes it all better, doesn't it?" Seamus asked.

"Seamus," Dean said in a soothing voice, trying to get his friend to calm down.

"No, Dean! I will not leave off. I've sat through this entire meal waiting for Harry to explain to us how this happened. How is it that you're having a child with a _Death Eater_ Harry? He threw himself at you and Ginny wasn't around, so you just cheat on Ginny, is that it? You don't even pay attention to who it's with or what he's done? And forget about protection!" Seamus ranted.

"Seamus!" Harry exclaimed, finally being pushed over the edge. At first he didn't know what to say and didn't want to be insensitive to Seamus' feelings, but now Seamus had gone too far. Plus, he had promised that he'd defend Draco tonight. "First of all, it is _none_ of your business nor anyone else's business how Draco and I created this baby. Second of all, Draco is _not_ Greyback. Draco didn't kill Lavender or anyone else. Draco violated a direct order from Voldemort by not killing Dumbledore; he was lowering his wand, ready to let Dumbledore go that night on the tower! And he saved my life on Easter when he refused to confirm it was me, even though he definitely recognized me. He stalled, buying us time, and then when we made our break for it, he didn't put up any real resistance."

"He saved my life that night too; Griphook, Ollivander, and Luna's lives too," Dean said.

"You're taking his side?" Seamus asked Dean incredulously, indicating Draco.

"Yes, I guess I am," Dean replied.

"Fine then," Seamus replied with a huff, before storming away from the table.

"I'll go after him," Dean said, before following after Seamus.

"Thank you for defending me like that," Draco said.

"You're welcome. I told you I'd defend you and I keep my word," Harry replied.

Draco nodded and looked down at his empty plate.

There were several moments of silence at their table, before the party guests started coming over to chat. There were quite a few questions regarding Draco from the other guests. As before, Harry acknowledged the pregnancy, but refused to answer any other questions regarding the nature of their relationship. And Harry continued to defend Draco's innocence when the subject came up.

Harry was getting really sick of the questions when Parvati Patel, Padma Patel, and Susan Bones approached with more of the same. Sure it started out with, "Happy birthday, Harry!" and, "Congratulations on the baby!" but it wasn't long before they got to the point with, "How long have you two been together?"

"Harry, would you care to dance with me?" Draco asked, interrupting the girly chatter.

"Oh, the two of them are just so cute together!" Susan Bones exclaimed.

"Um, ah, er…" Harry stuttered, looking back and forth between the girls and their awkward questions, and Draco, who now had his hand out waiting to dance. "Ah, I can't dance."

"I know that. I'll teach you," Draco replied.

Padma and Parvati were looking at the pair with sappy expressions that made Harry want to hurl. When push came to shove, Harry chose taking Draco's hand over staying there and continuing this awful conversation.

They walked to the dance floor, but Harry pulled up short.

"What? I thought we were going to dance?" Draco asked.

"Look, you don't have to dance with me. I know I'm awful and I only agreed to get away from those three," Harry said.

"Getting away from all of the questions was partly why I suggested it, but if we don't at least look like we're dancing, the interrogation is just going to start back up. Now I offered to teach you to dance and I meant it, so come on."

Draco pulled on Harry again, but Harry didn't move.

"Er, um, you do realize that we're both guys, right?" Harry asked.

"Very well spotted. You seem to be forgetting that I'm a flaming pouf, so you'll do."

"Oh, a, well you don't have to stick by my side. If there's another guy here you want to dance with, it's fine by me."

"Harry, have you seen anyone here asking me to dance?"

"No…"

"Precisely. This is your party and these are your friends, not mine. None of these people want to dance with me. Now can we dance or are you going to stall all night?"

Harry was about to say the latter, but then he spotted Parvati, Padma, and Susan approaching. And worse, there were now another dozen witches with them.

"Dance," Harry yelped, and tugged Draco with him onto the dance floor.

And that is how Draco ended up teaching Harry a few simple dance moves. Draco was a good dancer and a patient teacher. To Harry's astonishment, Draco made Harry feel like he wasn't halfway bad himself and really had him wanting to learn to dance. Plus, as long as they were dancing, the harpies were kept at bay. And it really wasn't all that long before the music was shut off, the dance floor was closed, and the whizbangs started up.

The rest of the evening went well, particularly because everyone was too busy watching George's brilliant whizbangs display to be bothered with who Harry was or was not buggering.

* * *

Author's Note: There! I finally finished the birthday party. What did you think?

Please Review!


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: I had planned on posting this yesterday, but I couldn't get this site to work. Turns out a bit of malware disguising itself as a toolbar had high-jacked fanfiction. I've hopefully gotten it removed and fanfiction is working for me again!

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Harry was standing by the water cooler at work, talking to Auror Sanchez. Auror training was about to officially start and all of the new recruits had been assigned senior Auror mentors. Sanchez had just been informed that he got Ron Weasley and was therefore trying to pick Harry's brain about his friend.

"So he has some experience, yeah? He's not going to freak and apparate away on me in the middle of a duel, is he?" Sanchez asked.

"Ah, I don't think he will. He's always had my back and he's—" Harry didn't get a chance to say what Ron was, because at that moment there was a loud crack and Kreacher suddenly appeared. Human apparition in this part of the Ministry was restricted to Aurors, but elves were apparently exempt from that restriction.

"Master Harry Potter, sir!" Kreacher exclaimed in his deep, bullfrog voice. "Master Draco Malfoy, sir, is unconscious!"

"What happened Kreacher?" Harry asked alarmed.

"Kreacher does not know. Master Draco Malfoy was in the potions lab brewing and now the noble sir is unconscious on the floor."

"He's your ward, innit he?" Sanchez asked.

Harry nodded to Sanchez and told Kreacher to go get Molly Weasley to help.

"I'll notify St. Mungo's and then tell Robards," Sanchez said.

"Thanks, I gotta go," Harry replied, before turning on the spot.

Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place and ran at top speed towards the potions lab by the kitchen. He heard the pop of apparition and Molly's voice, but he didn't slow down to explain things to her. By the time Molly caught up with him, he was on the floor by the cauldron, pulling Draco's limp body into his arms. Draco was still breathing and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him, so Harry looked up to Molly expectantly, hoping she would know what to do.

"What happened, Harry?" Molly asked, bustling into the room.

"I don't know. I was at worked when Kreacher told me. He said Draco was brewing," Harry answered.

"He shouldn't be brewing in his state! He's four months pregnant for goodness sake!" Molly exclaimed.

"Never mind that now Molly, we need to take him to St. Mungo's!" Harry exclaimed. No one had mentioned anything to him before about pregnant people not supposed to be brewing.

"Right, well we've got to get him past the anti-apparition ward," Molly replied.

Grimmauld Place still had an anti-apparition ward active on the inside of the dwelling from the war. In order to side-along apparate Draco to St. Mungo's, Harry would have to carry Draco out of the potions lab, through the parlor, and out the front door. Harry tried to pick Draco up, but Draco weighed more than he did and that plan didn't get very far. Then Kreacher appeared, pulling at his hairy ears, wringing his boney hands, banging his head on the floor, and saying what an awful elf he was for letting this happen to his regal master.

"Kreacher! Enough of that; help me get Draco to St. Mungo's," Harry instructed.

"Yes Master. Release the binding spell Master," Kreacher said. Harry waved his wand, reversing the spell that bound Draco to the house. Then Kreacher reached out, wrapped his boney hand around Draco's arm, and he and Draco disappeared.

Harry stood speechless for a moment as he processed what had just happened.

"Right; we have to follow them to St. Mungo's," Molly said forcefully, grabbing hold of Harry's arm to pull him along with her.

Harry jolted into reality and hurried along beside Molly, as they quickly made their way to the fireplace in the parlor. Molly grabbed a pinch of powder from the mantel and departed through the floo and Harry followed after her. When Harry stepped out of the floo at St. Mungo's, Molly was already summoning help from an orderly and asking to be taken to Draco.

"Just a minute madam and I'll check the log to see if we've got him," the orderly said.

Molly nodded and released her clutch on the orderly, but followed the young wizard back to the log book, pulling Harry along beside her. Draco was indeed on the log book, so moments later they were journeying through hospital to the maternity and paternity ward to find Draco. Harry and Molly had to wait outside in the waiting room for an interminably long couple of minutes. But then a middle aged witch escorted them back to a room where Draco was lying on a hospital bed. Draco had a complex looking monitoring charm on him and although he was awake and propped up on the pillow, he still looked weak. Draco's skin had a sickly pallor and his eyes kept blinking shut, as if the light was too bright.

"Is he okay? Is the baby okay?" Harry asked frantically, running over to Draco.

Molly followed behind Harry and turned her attention to Draco's healer. The healer was a thin, reedy looking witch with a nametag that read Healer Stebbins.

"What happened?" Molly asked.

"Mister Malfoy feinted. According to the elf that dropped him off, he was brewing a potion, despite the inadvisability of doing so while pregnant. The heat and fumes combined with a touch of dehydration was likely the culprit. I'd like to keep him in here for a few hours more for observation, but he should be able to go home today, as long as he won't be doing anymore brewing," Healer Stebbins said.

"Yes of course. I don't know why Harry had Draco brewing in the first place," Molly replied, turning an accusatory eye on Harry.

"Well I didn't tell him to do it! His mother brought him the potions ingredients!" Harry exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"What exactly was he brewing?" Healer Stebbins asked.

"It was the nutrient potion, I think," Harry answered.

"I thought Cissy was supplying him with that potion," Molly said.

"No, just the ingredients," Harry clarified.

"While it is advisable for pregnant witches and wizards to regularly imbibe the nutrient potion, it is not advisable that they be forced to brew it themselves," Healer Stebbins said sternly.

"Alright, I'll buy him some already made," Harry said.

"He never should have been making his own in the first place," Molly said, raising an eye disapprovingly at Harry.

"Well no one told me that!" Harry exclaimed. "And I tried telling him to buy it, but he kept insisting he wanted to brew it himself."

"Right, just as long as he doesn't do so again. Now I'd like to notify his usual healer; who has he been seeing for his pregnancy?" Healer Stebbins asked.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that Harry; Draco really needs to be seeing a healer regularly. Dromeda and I have been talking and she recommended Tonks' old healer—Healer Mason; she's part of the Order—and I've already scheduled the appointment. Granted there's a list a mile long to get in, but I'll take him in if you remove the spell binding him to the house for the day," Molly said.

"You have him bound to your house?" Healer Stebbins asked incredulously. "I'll have to inform the Aurors about this."  
"I _am_ an Auror. He's just under house arrest on suspicion of Death Eater activities until his trial," Harry explained.

"When is his trial?" Healer Stebbins asked critically.

"Everything's been really hectic at the Ministry. They've been concentrating on trying all of the really horrible Death Eaters first," Harry said.

"Are you telling me that the Aurors are holding a pregnant man without setting him a trial?" Healer Stebbins asked.

"Well I was thinking that if we put it off everyone will just forget about trying him and let him go!" Harry defended himself.

The truth was that Draco's name had come up on the trial roster, but at the very end of November, which was right around Draco's due date. Harry didn't think it was a good idea for Draco to be in court that far into the pregnancy, so he had removed Draco's name from the list. Harry hadn't gotten around to putting it back on the list, because the court dates being assigned now were still too close to Draco's due date. Plus no one had said anything and it was possible that no one had noticed.

"Right. I would like to talk to my patient in private to ensure he's being treated properly," Healer Stebbins replied.

Harry turned to look at Draco, whose eyes were closed in apparent sleep. "The baby's okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Healer Stebbins answered.

"We'll just be out in the waiting room," Molly said, jerking her head in the direction of the door to indicate that Harry should follow her.

They sat down in the waiting room and Harry had the foreboding feeling that generally precedes a lecture.

"He really should have seen a healer by now," Molly said. "We need to start taking him on monthly visits for prenatal care to make sure the baby's developing normally."

"Alright, as long as you can take him." Harry agreed. "The official training program starts in two days and I can't miss once it starts."

"Of course dear; I'd be glad to take him. I know you and Ronny will be busy with your training. I really must get Ronny to stop by and apologize to Draco properly for all of those nasty things he said to Draco before he left for Australia. He's been back for weeks and every day it's another excuse of why he's too busy; he wasn't too busy to make that poor boy cry, now was he?"

"Erm?" Harry hadn't realized that Ron had made Draco cry that day he came over with Hermione nor that Draco had told Molly about it. He had no clue how to respond. All he knew was what Ron had told him on his birthday that Molly had lashed into Ron about his insensitive behavior towards Draco.

"I had half a mind to call him back from holiday when I found out, but then poor Hermione needed the support. And George did need the help with the shop when Ron came home and with Auror training starting he had a lot of errands that needed to get done first. Still, he had the perfect opportunity to apologize on your birthday, but he didn't. Enough about Ron; we're here for Draco and the baby. The healers should be able to tell the sex of the baby soon and that's very exciting."

"Really?" Harry did find that prospect exciting. He would've been more eager to take Draco to the healer before now if he'd known that. Plus he was grateful for a change in conversation topic, because the last thing he needed was Ron finding out that Harry didn't take Ron's side in a dispute over Draco.

"Yes dear. He's in the second trimester now; he's about far enough along to determine the sex. I've already made him an appointment and all I'll need from you is for you to release the binding spell for the day, so I can take him."

"Yeah, I'll remove it; just tell me when. I can't thank you enough for helping me with Draco, Molly."

"You're welcome dear, but I want you to start doing more for him too. He's going to need new, larger clothes soon. He's showing quite a bit these days and his old clothes are getting tight."

"Yeah, alright. What exactly does he need?"

"A couple of paternity robes and pajamas should suffice.

"Where do I get those?" Obviously popping into a muggle store was out of the question, because muggle men didn't get pregnant. Besides, Draco would probably complain that he was allergic to muggle clothing too.

"Madam Malkins can make him some."

Harry let out a sigh of defeat, thinking he would be seen in public shopping for paternity clothes with Draco. "Alright, so a trip to Diagon Alley should do it."

"Yes, but also you need to get him some more hobbies to pass his time. I've brought him some knitting and Dromeda and I stop by regularly, but we can't be there all of the time. He's read the only parenting book in the Black library and most of the leisure books as well, so you should take him to the bookstore and let him pick out a few things."

Harry agreed and Molly seemed to be done with her lecturing for the day. Harry was eventually allowed to take Draco back home to Grimmauld Place, but not before promising Draco would be taken to the healer appointment Molly had scheduled. The following day Harry went to Madam Malkin's and arranged for the seamstress to stop by Grimmauld Place to fit Draco for paternity robes. It meant giving one more person the secret to his house, but the war was over and he'd been considering breaking the secret on purpose. It was only the fervent Potter fans he had to worry about keeping out these days. While Harry was in Diagon Alley, he stopped by the apothecary and purchased Draco's pregnancy potions, before going back home.

Harry did worry a bit that he was keeping Draco cooped up in the house too much, but he was starting Auror training and didn't have time for outings, so he shrugged it off. And Draco wasn't supposed to be out of the house for the next few days; he was supposed to be taking it easy and lying in bed to ensure his recovery. Madam Malkin coming to his house was much more convenient for both of them. Besides, Draco was getting new clothes, which was the task at hand.

Z

Author's Note: The pregnancy is moving right along. Next chapter Harry will get to feel the baby kick :)

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	16. Chapter 16

Harry had taken to sleeping in his boxers and casting mild warming charms before going to bed. It was late August in London and still on the warm side at night, but he found that he liked it hotter now. It all had to do with the fact Draco almost always ended up in his bed before the night was out. Harry didn't think it was nightmares that were waking Draco up anymore, because Draco rarely woke up screaming these days. Instead Draco woke up groaning and rubbing his back, indicating that it was the uncomfortable pregnancy waking him up. And for whatever reason, Draco seemed to sleep better in Harry's bed.

Harry wasn't good with expressing his feelings to Draco, but to himself he had to admit that he found Draco's presence comforting. Draco rolled over almost every hour, tossing from side to side. An active bed partner wasn't normally conducive to peaceful sleep, but Draco's tossing never really bothered Harry. Occasionally Harry would wake up missing his pillow and find that Draco had tucked both of their pillows underneath him, so that Draco could lie on his stomach, but typically Draco lay on his side and left Harry's pillow alone.

When Draco's body was turned away from Harry, Draco tended to drift closer to Harry, until Draco's back was up against Harry's side. Then Harry would turn his back to Draco, and push his back up against Draco's back, in a reverse spooning position. Harry thought it was safe to sleep like that, because none of their bits were touching. He didn't think it counted as gay or encroaching on his old rival's personal space. And that position led to what had to be the most comfortable sleep Harry ever had; it was warm, cozy, and relaxing. No matter how his muscles ached from long hours of physical training with the Aurors, lying with his back to Draco's back always seemed to sooth his aches away.

With a mild warming charm on the room and the fading heat of summer, Draco tended to get hot and kick Harry's thin comforter off the bed. Harry secretly liked it when Draco did so, because it was the only time he ever got to see Draco's body, and more importantly, Draco's expanding stomach, with Harry's growing child inside. They weren't close enough in their burgeoning friendship for Harry to be able to look at Draco's body during the day or touch the gentle swell, despite how much he longed to. Maybe Draco would have allowed a touch and maybe he wouldn't have, but Harry didn't know, because he hadn't yet mustered the courage to ask. So instead he satisfied his curiosity while Draco was sleeping in his bed.

Draco usually slept in a short-sleeved pajama shirt and a light pair of pajama bottoms. Although it was one of the new larger paternity shirts that Madam Malkin made, the shirt still tended to ride up Draco's belly and rest on the top of the swell. On nights like tonight, when Harry woke up with Draco facing towards him, he had a perfect view of the taut pale skin that covered their unborn child. Draco kept it covered during the day, but at night, Harry could stare at it in the moonlight as much as he wanted to; touch it even.

Harry very much liked reaching his hands out and caressing his forming baby. It didn't matter that his baby was inside of Draco Malfoy, his boyhood nemesis and school rival; what mattered was that it was a new life forming right before his eyes and under his hands and that it was his child. Harry felt a surge of pride when he contemplated that it was his baby, somehow made from his body. He may not have been there for the conception or even known about it at first, but he still felt pride that he was involved and that a life was being made from his life.

In the early morning hours, Harry was free to see the evidence of his baby's growth, to touch it through Draco's skin, and make contact. He reached his hand out, cupping the side of the obvious bump, and waited. Draco never said anything about the baby kicking him and for all Harry knew the baby might not kick much during the day, but at night, their baby kicked. The little ball of potential was very active while Draco was asleep and Harry didn't have to wait long before he felt the distinctive movement of a limb jutting out of Draco's soft belly.

Harry had first noticed the movement a few nights ago when Draco had drifted closer to Harry, pushing his belly against Harry's body. Draco's shirt had ridden up and Harry wasn't even wearing one. Harry had been stirred from his slumber by the gentle motion and had reached out in his groggy half-asleep state and rested his hand on the small bump. And then the baby had moved again and he had jolted awake at the sensation. That was his baby moving underneath Draco's skin and it only took that one instance for Harry to be hooked.

Tonight Draco responded to Harry's touch by shifting closer, into it. Harry was convinced that Draco looked different in his sleep; innocent and approachable, while he was cocky and self-sufficient while awake. Sometimes Harry felt like a coward for not being able to confront Draco and ask to touch the baby while Draco was awake, but most of the time he didn't think about it, instead concentrating on the awe he felt at the movement under his hand. He wondered things like if the baby could feel his hand. Maybe the baby was just trying to get comfortable in a tight space, but he liked to think the movement was specifically for him, because the baby knew he was there and wanted to play.

Harry looked down at his watch and realized with a groan that it was later than he'd thought and already time to get up for work, being a Monday and all. But he had dinner with Hermione and Ron tonight, which he didn't want to be late for, so he had to get to work early. If he and Ron finished their project early, they could probably skive off an hour early. And so he grudgingly retracted his hand from Draco's stomach and crawled out of bed, being careful not to wake Draco.

Ron also arrived at the Ministry early that day, so they worked all morning and were able to finish their two week long project just after lunch. Then they went back to their desk to clear up their mess; parchment scrolls and old books had to be returned to their proper place and the like.

"This is bloody brilliant mate! Now I get to spend the whole afternoon with Hermione. The weekend was entirely too short," Ron said, sorting through a pile of notes they had made.

"And just think how proud of us she'll be that we wrote an entire report ourselves, without her help," Harry replied, tossing a freshly broken quill in the bin.

"Yeah, we're awesome, aren't we? I suppose she really should be given the credit for this one; without all those years of forcing us to study and practically writing our essays for us we'd be as clueless as McDougal and Goldstein."

"Just do me a favor and don't mention that while I'm there; I don't fancy witnessing your intimate…ew…" Harry trailed off, horrified at his own disturbing thought.

"You really think? That would score points with Hermione?" Ron was chomping at the bit at the idea, clearly enthused.

"Yeah mate."

"Well then, I'll tell her first thing when I get out of here."

"No! Don't tell her until after dinner. Otherwise dinner will be all awkward and I'll be the third wheel with you two snogging again..." Harry waved his hands around in the air, trying to convey how awful that was for him last time.

"But you won't be the third wheel, not when Malfoy's there, will you? You can just not snog Hermione together."

"What?"

"You know, if Hermione and I get…well you can just bugger off with Malfoy."

"First of all, I don't think the mention of me should be in the same sentence with the word, 'bugger,' and Draco's name. Second of all, Draco's not coming; I'm leaving him at home."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Harry; Hermione won't like it. She wants Malfoy there and flat out _ordered_ me to be on good behavior. And well, it is her going back to Hogwarts dinner and if she wants a pureblood git there…" Ron was clearly whipped.

"Why would she want him there?"

"Because he's having your baby and she wants to reach out the tendril of…Oh I forget what blarney she said, but it was something like that. Anyway, she found out from mum that he loves ice cream from some gourmet ice cream parlor in London. A _muggle_ ice cream parlor where the ice cream isn't churned by enslaved elves or anything… That reminds me, she found out that Fortescue's uses elf labor, so their grand opening next week is out."

"But she wanted us to go to support his daughter taking over the business after he was killed in the war. She was all for Support the Restoration of the Wizarding World! And this one just happened to coincide with the best ice cream in Britain," Harry protested. "And she won't even be there! She'll be off at Hogwarts by Saturday!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. But still, it's the grand opening and if I show up there with Harry Bloody Savior Potter, it'll be in the papers and I'll be found out."

Ten minutes later, Ron and Harry solved the minor Fortescue crisis by deciding that they would get George to purchase their ice creams for them and take them back to the joke shop, where Harry and Ron would be waiting to consume said treats. And in the meantime, they'd go to the muggle parlor tonight with Hermione and Draco for dinner.

"Wait, Hermione really suggested we have ice cream for dinner?" Harry asked skeptically. "That's not like her and I can't say I'm okay with that when Draco's coming with us. Your mum said he needs to eat properly. There was a _very_ long lecture about it just last week."

"Oh, there's a deli there too. They serve sandwiches and stuff," Ron explained with a wave of his hand.

That settled it and they had their mess sorted, so they just had the books and scrolls to return to the Auror's Law Library. They were out of work in record time that day, which was good, because it was their last day to spend with Hermione before she leaves for Hogwarts. Ron went home to meet Hermione and spend a few last romantic hours with his girlfriend, while Harry went home to inform Draco that he was apparently required to go to dinner with them.

Harry was surprised by how quickly Draco agreed to go to a muggle restaurant with a mudblood, halfblood, and a blood traitor, because he just said yes without a stitch of protests. That was odd in itself, but then there was the fact that this restaurant was supposedly one of Draco's favorites. It was suspicious, given the Malfoy's family's aversion to muggles.

"Wait, you're agreeing to go with us, just like that? No protest that this is a _muggle_ dining establishment?" Harry asked.

"Yes, well my family has been going there all my life. That restaurant has been there for over a hundred years and my grandfather used to go there when he was a boy," Draco replied.

"Aren't you worried that muggle food will be poisonous?"

"No, the food there is good; bloody fantastic the way they make their ice cream from scratch right there in the shop. Maybe other muggle food is poisonous—you'd know better than me—but the only way this food will kill you is from a heart attack from all of the fat."

"This doesn't make sense; how did the Malfoy family even stumble across a place like this, if you don't go out into the muggle world?"  
"I don't know; my great grandfather found it." Draco shrugged.

"Fine, just remember to wear baggy clothes; muggles aren't used to pregnant men," Harry said, letting the subject drop, for now. But he was still suspicious and resolved to keep an eye out while they were at dinner.

"I promise to look like a muggle tonight. And if they ask, I'll just tell them I have stomach cancer," Draco agreed. Really he wasn't all that big, so the bump could be easily hidden and Harry hoped they wouldn't even be asked; people tended to keep to themselves in large cities.

Harry had a few hours to kill, which he spent studying for the next Auror test. Later, just before dinner time, Harry released the binding spell and walked with Draco to the corner, where he hailed a cab.

Draco seemed fascinated by the process at first, but then he turned a bit pale, leaned into Harry, and asked, "Are you sure this is safe? Taking a ride from a muggle?"

"Yes, it's fine. How do you normally get there?"

"My mother used to take me by side along. It was never so terrifying."

Harry could see Draco's knuckles had turned white with how hard he was gripping the handle on the door, but the cab ride only lasted a few minutes. Hermione and Ron were there waiting for them; Hermione with a large bag full of books.

"Relax Hermione, school doesn't start until the day _after_ tomorrow. You've got all day tomorrow on the train to study," Harry said, giving her a hug.

"Ha ha, very funny Harry. These are for Draco; just some old novels of mine I thought he might like to read. I'll get them when I come home for Christmas," Hermione said, before letting go of Harry and hugging Draco. "And how are you and the baby Draco?"

"Fine," Draco replied stiffly, looking uncomfortable with the display of affection.

"Oh! What was that?" Hermione asked, letting go of Draco's shoulders and moving her hands to his baby bulge.

"He kicked." Draco shrugged.

"The baby just kicked me! Oh my, this is _so_ amazing. Harry, have you felt this?" And then Hermione was reaching for Harry's hand, putting it on Draco's belly, above the spot where the baby was kicking.

Harry didn't know what to say, because he didn't want Hermione to think poorly of him for not noticing his own child kicking before and he didn't want Draco to know that he had. So he kept quiet and nodded along with Hermione's enthusiasm. As soon as she let his hand go, he pulled back and took the bag of books to have something to occupy his hands and make him look busy. He'd already gotten an owl order form from Flourish and Blotts and sent in for dozens of books, both pregnancy and parenting related and leisurely reading, for Draco. He'd let Draco pick them too, but you could never have too many books when you're on house arrest.

"I'm starving, let's order. What's good here?" Ron asked.

The three friends turned to Draco inquisitively, given that he was the one who'd been here before. "They have this thing called a ham-burger, which isn't made up of ham at all. It's beef, chopped up and mashed back together, sort of like a meatloaf, but completely different-"

It was then that Ron cut him off, "Yeah, we know what hamburgers are. Harry and Hermione already enlightened me."

"Well their ham-burgers are good and their ice cream is amazing. My favorite is this coffee and cheesecake flavored one with raspberries and caramel," Draco said.

And so the blokes all ordered hamburgers, while Hermione choose a sandwich. There were chips on the side for Ron and Harry, while Hermione and Draco had the salad. After they ate, Draco ordered a giant ice cream cone for himself, which appeared to be a mix of white and brown ice cream with ribbons of caramel and chunks of raspberries in it, while the other three went around sampling the various flavors.

There were a ton of choices and after trying several good ones, Harry looked over to see that the other muggle in the shop, the owner, had gone over to their table to talk quietly to Draco. Harry wanted to know what was being said without them realizing that he was listening, so he decided just to ask for what Draco was having. Once he got the cold treat, he left Ron and Hermione with the other muggle to keep sampling, while he looked around for an excuse to get near Draco. He found one in a counter filled with pre-made ice cream sandwiches for takeout, which was on the other side of the store, only five feet away from their table.

"Oh, I didn't know they had ice cream sandwiches too! I wonder if they have them in that chocolate I liked…" Harry said, walking closer to their table, but with his eyes locked onto the ice cream sandwich counter. As he grew nearer the table, he veered closer to the counter, pretending to look at the display, while really he was listening to the muggle-owner.

"-specting your mum to come 'round when she did. It'd been over a year without a word and then she appears with the entire year's worth of inventory? Don't get me wrong, I was delighted, but I don't have room to store any more of it and I haven't gotten this bit sold off, so tell her to hold off for a while before bringing me anymore. And I can't pay her for it until I do get it sold," the muggle said.

"Yes, alright. We need the money though; we have legal issues."

"Yes, I would imagine so. I still can't believe your dad's in jail. He was always such a good, proper man. Never tried to cheat me out of so much as a euro."

"Maybe we'll call you as a character witness then," Draco replied and Harry could detect a hint of cheek in that statement. Harry could just imagine them calling a muggle to testify at Lucius' trial…but then Lucius was accused of muggle torture and having an actual muggle friend testify might work in his favor; they could obliterate him afterwards.

"I would be glad to. Like I was telling you before, my old man got in a spot of trouble once. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time; it could happen to anyone. That's why I want you and your mum to know that my family is more than happy to continue doing business with yours and it's not just the euros. Don't get me wrong, the euros help, and we all know there wouldn't even be a business arrangement if not for the profit," the muggle said, giving away a lot of information.

"Thank you, that means a lot to us. There are so many people who've turned on us since this legal case started," Draco said.

There was a slapping sound and Harry looked over to see the muggle's hand on Draco's shoulder. Then there was a handshake, before the muggle went back behind the deli counter. Harry looked towards the ice cream counter and noticed that Ron and Hermione had ice creams now, but were locked in each other's gaze. In fact they had the look they get right before the snogging breaks out, so Harry turned quickly back away, choosing instead to join Draco at their table.

Harry licked his ice cream and debated with himself for a moment with whether or not he should reveal that he was eavesdropping. He finally decided to go for it, his curiosity getting the best of him. "So what sort of business arrangement does your family have with this muggle shop?"

"It's nothing illegal, if that's what you're asking," Draco replied, lapping up his ice cream eagerly.

"Good, that's great." Harry thought about it for a moment while he ate. "It's just that I can't for the life of me see what sort of business arrangement your dad has with an ice cream parlor. Are you selling them milk or cream? A year's supply of milk wouldn't keep."

"No."

"Cows? Do they make their own hamburger too?"

"No."

"Then what? Because everything else I can think of would violate the International Statute of Secrecy." Harry and Ron had just reread that last week as part of their background research for their finished report.

Draco sighed in defeat, before admitting, "We're not selling muggles anything magical, I swear. It's just that they use these little silicone chips that are bloody impossible to manufacture without magic. We've got one old elf turning the things out for practically nothing. The Ministry froze our accounts, so Mother took the lot of them to Mister Franks here herself. Mister Franks' son works for a distributor of the chips and he funnels them into the muggle supply without anyone noticing the difference. Only with the war, Father didn't dare contact Mister Franks and risk endangering our muggle contact, so these things have been piling up and Mister Franks needs some time for his son to deal with the sudden surplus."

"Silicone chips?" Harry asked in disbelief. The idea that the Malfoy family was a manufacturer of muggle electronics was just too surreal.

"Yes, muggles use them to replace magic. They have this thing where they can owl each other, but with a device made using these chips. They write the letter in one place and the chip talks to another chip that talks to a third chip in the other muggle's house. The third chip then makes the letter appear for the specified muggle. They call it electronics."

"Yes, I know about electronics and email, but I never thought that the great muggle hating Malfoy family would be making muggle computer chips."

"Well how do you think we get all our money? My mother has never worked and my father only worked part time."

"Seriously? What happened to filthy muggles?"

"It's easier just to blend in then try to fight it," Draco replied with a shrug, taking a bite of the cone now that his ice cream was gone.

"No, your father was Voldemort's bloody right hand man! That isn't just blending in with the crowd," Harry whispered angrily, trying to keep his voice low enough that the muggles wouldn't hear him.

"Pureblood superiority and not marrying muggles, yes, my parents absolutely agreed with. Sacrificing a lucrative business deal just because it's the muggles who are the ultimate consumers of the product; that isn't the Malfoy way."

"So pureblood racism all the way, except when it interferes with your profit?"

"Exactly. You're catching on," Draco said and Harry groaned. "Are you going to finish that?" Draco pointed to Harry's half abandoned ice cream.

"Shite. Hold on." Harry had been trying to keep up with licking the drops off of his cone while he spied and talked, but now he realized that the treat was quickly thawing and in danger of toppling over. There was even a trail of cream running down the back of his hand he hadn't noticed. He surreptitiously looked around the parlor noticing that one muggle had gone into the back and the other had her back turned, before pulling out his wand and casting a freezing charm. Then he asked the remaining muggle for a bowl and a spoon. He gave half of the ice cream to Draco, while eating the other half himself.

"Oh and Harry?"

"Yeah Draco?"  
"Please don't tell anyone about this."

"Of course not. I wouldn't want to ruin your family's reputation."

"Thanks."

Later that evening, Ron and Draco went to watch the live display of the making of ice cream, while Harry and Hermione had a moment alone to talk.

"By the way, one of the books in the bag is for you. It's a book of wizarding fairytales," Hermione said.

"It's not the Tales of Beetle the Bard, is it?" Harry asked.

"No, it's not. One of the tales is in fact the story of how wizards acquired the ability to give birth."

"And how's that? Did you finally come up with the answer?" Harry asked eagerly.

"I can't be sure, but all of the references refer back to this fairytale. Apparently it's the first written record of the phenomenon."

"And? What does the story say?" Harry had half a mind to pull out the children's book and read it right here in the muggle establishment.

"It says a gay man helped out a unicorn and in return, the unicorn granted the man's deepest desire, for children. Now I've read a dozen different interpretations of this, ranging from the man buggered himself on a unicorn horn, as your Auror friend so tactfully put it, to the man developed a potion using unicorn horn to permanently alter his genetic make-up, to the story of the unicorn granting the wish _literally_ happened. The first one can't possibly be true, as we agreed before; not only is it impossible, but it also doesn't account for how the ability is past on. Wizards get pregnant all the time and no one ever catches them with a unicorn horn in an inappropriate place. Besides, that is just so barbaric that it's clearly a crude joke started long ago; obviously it would be stupid to taint your being by killing a unicorn in order to get pregnant. The potion could have been made with the horn of a unicorn that died of natural causes and it was a onetime event, requiring a limited amount of horn powder. So the answer has to be that there was a potion that started it all or there was a wish granting unicorn."

"It has to be the potion then…the idea of a unicorn granting a wish is ludicrous."

"I'm not so sure. Unicorns are very magically powerful creatures; we've just barely begun to touch the surface of what they're capable of."

They talked some more of unicorns and Hermione's upcoming seventh year. Then Ron and Draco returned, talking of automatic churning machines. But it was getting late, so there was a long goodbye filled with many hugs for Hermione, who Ron would be dropping off at King's Cross tomorrow. And then the cab arrived and Harry and Draco went back to Grimmauld Place. Draco closed his eyes on the way back, seemingly not noticing the ride he had found so terrifying earlier; it was amazing what some good ice cream could do.

* * *

Author's Note: I just _barely_ wrote this and I hope there aren't too many errors. I didn't even realize until Saturday that it was near September 1st in the timeline, so I had to rearrange my original idea for this chapter and fit in Hermione's departure.


	17. Chapter 17

Harry imagined Teddy and the new baby growing up together and being a cross between adoptive brothers and best friends; nothing like how Harry and Dudley were growing up. Teddy wasn't much older and it would be like the two children had a built-in playmates in each other. Harry would make sure the boys got along and didn't fight, but he didn't anticipate intense sibling rivalry anyway. This situation was completely different from Harry's childhood, because Harry hadn't had parents or any other adult in his corner, while Dudley had had two loving parents. Teddy wasn't Harry, because he had Dromeda and Harry wouldn't let him be mistreated. Harry also couldn't imagine the possibility of the Malfoy heir ever being mistreated; not when Draco and Cissy were around to see that the baby had every luxury imaginable.

Judging from the way Draco was with Teddy, Harry didn't think Draco would be like the Dursleys and teach their child to pick on Teddy. If anything, Draco seemed to be embracing Teddy. First there was that Saturday trip to the Burrow when Draco had first met Teddy and Dromeda and had clearly been better with the baby than Harry was, but since then there had apparently been many similar visits. According to Kreacher's reports, Dromeda and Teddy stopped by to visit Draco at least once a week and apparently they were all getting on well. At least Harry surmised as much from the fact that Draco kept bringing up the need to have his aunt and second cousin over for Sunday tea.

Harry wasn't sure why Dromeda needed to come over specifically for Sunday tea, when it was one of only two days Harry had off from work a week. There were five days a week when Harry worked all day long during which Draco was free to visit with Dromeda and Teddy and Harry knew for a fact that the three were meeting without him. Never-the-less, Dromeda and Draco seemed to be set on arranging a visit when Harry was home.

"You really should spend more time with your godson, Harry. He's gotten so big since the last time you saw him," Draco said.

"Is he talking yet?" Harry asked.

Kids were easier to deal with once they could talk and tell you what was wrong. Oh and walk too, that way Harry wouldn't have to pick them up and risk dropping them. He thought he'd start spending more time with Teddy once the kid could walk and talk. Besides, it wasn't like Teddy was old enough to remember yet or anything. It didn't even occur to Harry that he had sort of a double standard in place when it came to bonding and spending time with Teddy versus the baby Draco was carrying. Besides, the new baby was still inside Draco and all Harry was doing was touching it at night; he wasn't holding it, so there was no way he could drop it and he wasn't responsible for caring for it, because Draco's body did that.

"As a matter of fact, yes, he is. He told me, 'Hi,' about a hundred times this week and he called me, 'Bob.'"

"Bob? Your name's Draco."

"He's only five months old, give him time."

"Right…" Harry replied skeptically.

"You're just jealous because he's your godson, yet he said my name first. He clearly likes me better."

"Uh-huh. I bet he calls everyone Bob."

"Not that I know of. He calls Dromeda, 'Mmmaaaa' and Kreacher, 'Ih.'"

"And Molly?"

"I've never heard him say anything to Molly other than, 'Hi,' and, 'Duh.'"

"'Duh,' isn't a word; it's a sound."

"Maybe he's saying a word and I just can't understand it. Why don't you spend some time with him yourself and decipher his baby talk?"

"Because I have to work."

"You don't work Sundays."

And so it came to this again. "Why is Sunday tea so important to you? I'd rather have the time to go for a nice fly."

"He's my second cousin, which makes him family. You're supposed to be the one looking after him and taking care of him, but you're too selfish to think of anything but your broom. As it is, he's growing up with no one other than his gran around; I worry he'll turn into another Longbottom."

That was harsh. "I do plan on being there for him when he's older. As soon as he can ride a child's broom we can go flying together," Harry reasoned, mostly to convince himself of it.

"What are you so afraid of? So much for the famous blind-bravery of Savior Potter. I bet the Prophet would make it their top story for the next year if they knew you were afraid of a baby."

"I'm not afraid of Teddy!"

"To be honest, the little guy is murder on my hair, but then your hair already looks like it's been styled with baby vomit, so that can't be it. Your clothes are so ratty that a bit of baby drool would improve them…"

"I'm not worried about my clothes or my hair!"

"Great. I'll just send my aunt an owl letting her know you'd like her to bring the little guy over for tea Sunday."

"No!" Harry exclaimed a bit too rashly.

"Me thinks you doth protest too much. What are you hiding? Does the Great Harry Potter have a secret phobia of babies? Or is it that you don't want to share the spotlight with a cute little baby? A person that is too young to worship you and lick your shoes; is that it? You'll be a proper godfather once he's old enough to worship you."

"No, it's nothing like that!"

"Then what is it?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

Harry waited for several minutes and tried to come up with a way to get himself out of this. "I'm just busy, alright?"

"No, quite frankly it's not alright. Didn't you say you had the resurrection stone during the war?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well, you should pull it out and inform Dear Departed Professor Lupin that he picked a bloody awful godfather for his orphan son and see if his spirit can rectify the problem. I'm sure there's a werewolf somewhere who'd do a better job of it; not even a werewolf could make a bigger mess of it than you."

"I'm going to be a great godfather!"

"When?"

"When Teddy's older and can talk!"  
"He needs you now. What do you find so scary about a baby? You're willing to save everything else in the world, just not a baby."

"I might break him, alright!?" Harry exclaimed, finally admitting just what he was worried about. "He's so little and squirmy and I almost dropped him last time I tried to hold him." Harry let out a sigh of defeat as he looked at his shoes, clearly embarrassed to admit this.

"Harry, look at me," Draco said and waited until Harry made eye contact. "You won't break him. If you're worried about dropping him, then sit with him on the floor, where he doesn't have far to fall. And you don't even need to hold him to be there for him. He can sit up now; sit next to him and play with him and talk to him. He only has two teeth; he doesn't even bite yet. And as long as it isn't the full moon, you can't possibly catch anything from him."

"Teddy is _not_ a werewolf!"

"Then stop treating him like one and spend some time with him!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Good! Are you going to owl my aunt or should I?"

And that is how Draco trapped Harry into inviting Dromeda and Teddy over for Sunday tea.

* * *

Dromeda stepped through the floo Sunday afternoon right on time, pushing Teddy in his bright red pram and carrying a nappy bag over her shoulder. Teddy was initially sporting olive green hair, which matched the olive green cars on his light blue romper suit. But then Teddy's hair turned to a pale blond, his eyes grew lighter, and his chin took on a distinctive point.

Teddy reached out his chubby little hands towards Draco and said, "Bob! Bob-bob-bob-bob-baaaa."

"See, I told you little Edward likes me," Draco said to Harry, while stepping towards Teddy and Dromeda to greet his aunt and cousin.

"Edward?" Harry asked.

"Ted was short for Edward; Teddy's first name is Edward," Dromeda replied.

"Edward is a much more befitting name for my second cousin, I think. Isn't it little Edward?" Draco asked in the high pitched voice one only used when talking to young children.

Teddy replied with a happy squeal and crammed his saliva covered fingers into Draco's mouth.

"I liked him better with the puke colored hair," Harry muttered under his breath. Just his luck and his own godson would turn on him and like Draco sodding Malfoy better than him.

Dromeda forced Harry into a tight hug, before allowing Harry to escort her and Teddy upstairs to the drawing room. At first Dromeda occupied Harry's time with wanting a detailed account of Auror training so far and retelling stories of Tonks' Auror days, while Draco played with Teddy.

Then Dromeda turned to Draco and asked about his recent healer appointment. Molly had taken Draco Thursday for the long over-due first appointment and Dromeda was interested to hear all of the details. Harry had asked Draco for the details too, but Harry hadn't known what sorts of things to ask about. All Draco had told Harry was that it went fine, the baby was healthy, and it wouldn't be until sometime in the future that they would do the scan to determine the sex of the baby. But under Dromeda's expert questioning, Draco was disclosing all sorts of additional information, such as the fact that Draco was twenty-three weeks pregnant and had gotten to hear the heartbeat. The baby was eleven and a half inches long and weighed about two pounds.

Harry was engrossed in Draco's retelling of the healer visit when Teddy spit up all over Draco. Draco immediately handed the baby over to Harry, forcing Teddy into Harry's arms, in order to pull out his wand and clean off the baby vomit. Harry tried to protest and hand Teddy back to Draco, but Draco wasn't looking and was preoccupied with cleaning himself, while continuing his account of the healer appointment to Dromeda.

Harry had the unmistakable urge to get up and walk Teddy over to Dromeda, but he didn't. Dromeda was on the other side of Draco and far enough away that Harry couldn't pass the baby on in the way Draco had. Furthermore, he was Teddy's godfather and hadn't held the baby in _months_; he felt like a cad just thinking about his desire to hand his godson off so quickly. And so Harry kept a firm hold on Teddy, hoping the moment would pass and that Dromeda or Draco would soon relieve Harry of baby duty.

One minute Harry had been focused on what Draco and Dromeda were saying about fetal brain development in this stage of the pregnancy, and the next he was trying not to drop a squiggly infant and looking down to see Teddy tracing a saliva coated finger along Harry's arm, leaving a snail-like trail behind. Teddy was drooling long chains of spittle all down his pointy chin, drenching his little car-patterned bib. Worse, there were flecks of curdled baby formula in the mess. Harry grabbed a cloth from the pram and began to wipe Teddy up, wondering how anything so little could be so messy; Teddy's copious bodily fluids were already all over Harry's sweater. Molly had just given Harry this sweater for his birthday and it was his favorite.

It was a very long time before anyone bothered relieving Harry of baby detail. Not even when Teddy started fussing did Dromeda or Draco offer to take Teddy back. Instead, Dromeda just made up a bottle and passed it over, leaving Harry to navigate the difficult task of feeding Teddy. Clearly he barely knew which end to insert into the little month and one of his houseguests should have volunteered to help him; even Teddy could see that. It was Teddy who ended up helping Harry out, grabbing the bottle with his cubby little hands and directing it into his mouth, before sucking greedily.

"Thanks kid; at least you're looking out for me," Harry whispered into Teddy's ear.

Somehow, despite the amount of regurgitating Teddy regularly engaged in and the soiling of nappies, Teddy's wispy blond hair still managed to smell pleasant. Teddy smelled of lavender and baby powder. Harry nudged Teddy's ear with his nose and smiled down at his godson. Teddy smiled back up at Harry, lips curved up around the nipple of the bottle, and a thin line of milk dribbled down the corner of his mouth. Maybe this being a godfather and a father thing wouldn't be so hard after all.

* * *

Author's Note: Harry is starting to bond with Teddy, as per Draco's secret plan. What did you think? I'm thinking I'll have Teddy over again next chapter.


End file.
